


Little Star

by NicholasFlamelFan



Series: A Star's Journey [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Daddy Doctor (Doctor Who), Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Imprisonment, Protectiveness, Rose Tyler Bashing, Time Tots | Babies (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-05-13 14:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19252636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicholasFlamelFan/pseuds/NicholasFlamelFan
Summary: What happens when the Doctor finds a Time Tot in Van Stattens museum with the Daleks? How will he react when he finds out that she has been a prisoner for decades. The only problem is that said Time Tot can't remember her name and she can't speak English. How will Rose react to having a child on the Tardis? What about the Doctor's other Companions?





	1. Dalek

The Doctor was seething in the elevator, glaring at Van Statten and several guards. They had one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe down there and the man refused to see reason… "The metal's just battle armour. The real Dalek creature is inside."

"What does it look like?" the American asked, greed visible in his eyes.

"A nightmare," the Doctor bit out "It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate."

Van Statten raised an eyebrow "Genetically engineered. By whom?"

"By a genius, Van Statten," the Time Lord pointed out "By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him."

That was when Goddard stepped in "It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at private auctions together with the other alien, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?"

"Because I'm here," the Doctor sighed grimly, not giving another thought to the other alien for the moment. It wasn't as if they could be as dangerous as the Dalek. He would take care of it later "How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"

"The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite," Goddard explained "They fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in the crater for three days before anybody could get near them and all that time the Dalek was screaming. It must have gone insane."

The Doctor closed his eyes "It must have fallen through time. The only survivor."

"You talked about a war?" the woman questioned curiously.

"The Time War," the Time Lord nodded "The final battle between my people and the Dalek race."

Van Statten looked at the Doctor sharply "But you survived, too."

"Not by choice."

"That means that the Dalek and my little project aren't the only aliens on Earth," the rich American smirked "Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence."

After Van Statten said that, everything happened pretty quickly. They arrived on a floor where the Doctor was immediately grabbed and restrained. The Time Lord was standing shirtless in front of Van Statten, his arms chained to the ceiling.

"No, smiley," the man grinned, running a painful laser down the Doctor's body "Two heart?" he questioned disappointed "You're just like the other one then…"

The Doctor's head snapped up "The other one?" There was a Time Lord here? He wasn't the only one of his species anymore? Why couldn't he feel them in his head?

"My other specimen has two heart… Binary vascular system… Nothing I can patent here," Van Statten sighed in disappointment.

The Doctor subtly tested the chains but they held strong. He grimaced and glared at Van Statten in disgust "So that's your secret, then? You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."

"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries," Van Statten pointed out, sounding like a kid at Christmas "All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"

The Doctor barely held onto his rage. Not only had he found out that there was a Time Lord here, he also found a Dalek who had been treated horribly. In what state would his kin be? He had to get out of here. One way or another "Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."

"In that case…" Van Statten murmured "I'll be true to myself and continue." While he didn't need to do it, the man found a certain… enjoyment out of using his machine on humans. Especially when he was trying to get the other one to talk. Neither of the aliens in his possession had talked as much as this Doctor did. Actually, the smaller one didn't talk at all. It had also been quite a few months since he heard any sound from her. Only Simmons and a few guards were aware of this alien. If Goddard knew… Van Statten shuddered. He didn't want to fire the woman. She was good at what she was doing, so it would be a shame to fire her for standing up to the specimen.

"Listen to me," the Doctor shouted "That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us."

Van Statten scoffed "Nothing can escape the Cage." He blasted the Doctor with the laser again, enjoying the grunt… It wasn't quite enough though. The man wanted the alien to scream…

"But it's woken up," the Time Lord insisted "It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet!" He screamed and his knees gave out for a short moment when the laser was once again run over his body.

Suddenly, an alarm started ringing through the room and a voice quickly followed " _Condition Red! Condition Red! I repeat this is not a drill!"_

"Release me if you want to live," the Doctor spoke up, remarkably calm considering the Dalek was probably about to kill all of them. They hurried to the office they had been in before, viewing the scene in the Cage on a large wall TV "You've got to keep it in that cell."

Rose turned to the monitor, tears in her voice " _Doctor, it's all my fault._ "

" _I've sealed the compartment,"_ the guard explained, throwing an annoyed glance at the blonde " _It can't get out. That lock's got a billion combinations."_

The Doctor frowned at the screen "A Dalek is a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." He watched as the Dalek slowly breached the Cage and turned to Van Statten "Bring the second alien here."

"Why would I?" the man questioned.

"Because if they die then you don't have to worry about the Dalek," the Doctor spat "Because I will hunt you down and kill you."

Goddard looked at her boss, a look of thinly veiled disgust on her face. She turned to the guards at the door "Get the other one up here. Hurry!"

They nodded and jogged off, towards the second cell. Every guard had heard stories about the other alien but almost no one had ever seen her. Some said that she was horribly disfigured or even a monster. What they saw though, shocked them to the core. There, in the cell was a little girl, no older than six or seven with tangled light brown hair. Her short dress was a faded – almost grey - white. Martins, the younger of the two men stepped forward cautiously "Hey, are you alright?" The child didn't react, just kept staring at her hands blankly "Oh, God," he breathed, looking at his colleague who looked equally as sick. How could Van Statten do something like this? Torturing a metal pepper pot was one thing but this? This was a child…

"Come on," Curtis sighed, kneeling down by the small child. He carefully reached out, making sure not to look threatening. It didn't work. The girl flinched once he touched her but didn't struggle. She was so light… Now that he had her in his arms, he saw a metal ring around her head and stunning greenish blue eyes.

The two guards hurried back to their boss' office with their precious cargo in tow. Once they were there, Martins opened the door, holing it open for Curtis to walk through. They saw the strange man look up, an angry look in his eyes.

The Doctor whirled around, glaring at Van Statten harshly "A child? You kept a child locked up in a Cage?"

"It's alien," the man cried out, stumbling back several steps.

"She is a child, no matter the species." The guard who had carried the little one had carefully placed her on a chair, stepping back to the door "Are you alright, little one?" When she didn't reply, he tried again, this time in the language of his people " **Are you alright?** "

The girl's head snapped up, revealing the silver band to the Doctor who hissed in annoyance. Mental dampeners? They put mental dampeners on her? It was no wonder that he couldn't feel her… " **You – speak?** " she croaked hoarsely, staring up at him with wide eyes.

" **Yes. Are you hurt? What's your name?** " the Doctor questioned. His thoughts were whirling around in his mind, the Dalek forgotten for the moment. A Time Tot… The man had locked up and tortured a Time Tot. Oh, he better be glad that the Doctor was the only one left. And even so, he might not survive this encounter… It was a crime to hurt a child on Gallifrey as they were so precious.

The girl shrugged and shook her head. She couldn't remember her name at all. Had she ever had one? The memories of her life before all of the hurt were vague and blurry. She only remembered the Dalek. How it had taken her to this planet…

" **How old are you?** " the Doctor tried again.

The Time Tot tilted her head lightly " **I – I don't know… I think I was five when the Dalek took me here…"**

" **Five?"** the Doctor inquired. That would make her fifty-five years old now. It would fit… Until their fifth birthday, Time Tots matured like humans but after that, they would age a year every twenty-five. She looked to be around seven, maybe a bit younger due to the mistreatment she experienced.

"She talks?" Van Statten called out from behind the Time Lord "What language is that?"

"None of your business now, is it?" the Doctor snapped "You will pay for this. She's just a child…"

Goddard glared at her boss before kneeling down next to the girl, a glass of water in her hand "Here." The woman held it out, waiting for the girl to take it. When she didn't, Goddard looked up at the Doctor, sadness in her eyes "Can you get her to drink it?"

" **It's just water, little one. Try and drink a bit… I have to deal with this situation first and then we'll get you checked out. Deal?** "

The girl nodded lightly and reached out a shaking had to grab the glass. It almost slipped through her weak fingers when Goddard was about to let go, so the older woman held onto it, helping the girl as much as she could.

"I thought you were the great expert, Doctor," Van Statten sneered "If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the man. He was really starting to piss him off, not only because of the Time Tot, no… Because he was being completely unreasonable and many of his men had died already "What's the nearest town?"

"Salt Lake City."

"Population?" the Doctor asked.

Van Statten frowned at the odd question "One million."

"All dead," the Time Lord pointed out "If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."

Van Statten's eyes widened "But why would it do that?"

"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different and anything different is wrong." The Doctor looked at the small Tot and smiled when he saw her napping on the chair. Oh, he didn't doubt that she was aware of who and what was going on around her but the girl was just too cute "It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose! The Dalek is surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home but it's not indestructible." The Time Lord turned to look at the monitor which wasn't showing anything at the moment "If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."

" _Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!_ " The men took cover behind various corners, packing cases and up on a catwalk. It was then that Rose and the boy – Adam – ran into view " _Hold your fire. You two, get the hell out of there."_ The Dalek entered, looking around. Suddenly, the picture returned in the office, making the three adults stand up straighter.

"We've got vision," Goddard remarked from her place close to the little girl.

The Doctor nodded grimly "It wants us to see." The hail of bullets seemed to not affect the Dalek at all. It just started to rise straight up into the air. It zapped the fire alarm and the sprinklers were set off. Once the concrete floor was completely covered with a layer of water, it fired down and electrocuted every person on the ground.

" _Fall back,_ " the Commander shouted " _Fall back."_ The Dalek fired another shot, this time killing all of the other men who were still on the walkway.

Van Statten was silent for a moment, staring at the screen in horror "Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir," Goddard pointed out "We can't get out."

"Then we could seal the vault," the Doctor spoke up. He really didn't want the Dalek anywhere near the humans or the Tot. Of course, she was more important. The Time Lord could barely wait until he could get her into the Tardis for a checkup… The mental dampeners were going to hurt to remove… Depending on how long she had been wearing them, they could even lead to a seizure until the brainwaves calmed down again. Hopefully, they could avoid that though.

Van Statten blinked "It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war. Steel bulkheads."

"There's not enough power," Goddard said again "Those bulkheads are massive."

"We've got emergency power," the Doctor pointed out "We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."

Goddard shook her head "We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius."

"Good thing you've got me, then," Van Statten called out.

The Doctor turned to him with a raised eyebrow "You want to help?"

"I don't want to die, Doctor," the man declared "Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me."

Goddard cleared her throat "Sir." She pointed to the monitor.

The Dalek was back on the ground by now " _I shall speak only to the Doctor."_

"You're going to get rusty," the Time Lord called out.

" _I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."_

The Doctor scoffed "What's your next trick?"

" _I have been searching for the Daleks… I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes. Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?"_

The Time Lord smirked lightly "You're just a soldier without commands."

" _Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer."_

"What for?" the Doctor demanded "What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for."

" _Then what should I do?_ " the Dalek questioned sullenly.

The Doctor thought for a moment. It was worth a try, wasn't it? "Alright, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself."

" _The Daleks must survive,_ " the Dalek cried out.

"The Daleks have failed," the Doctor spat "Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?"

The pepper pot looked at the camera for a moment " _You would make a good Dalek._ " Then the screen went black.

The Doctor stared at his reflection emotionlessly "Seal the Vault."

"I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkhead. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast," Van Statten grinned gleefully.

"Are you enjoying this?" the Doctor asked incredulously. He checked on the little one again and was pleased to see her eyes still closed. From the little he could feel from her, she was alright if a bit scared around the two humans… Van Statten especially.

Goddard cut in again "Doctor, she's still down there."

"Right," the Time Lord nodded, grabbing a phone from the desk. He quickly dialled Rose's number and waited for her to answer "Where are you?" He listened for a moment "You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty-six… I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run."

"Done it," Van Statten exclaimed "We've got power to the bulkheads."

Goddard frowned at the computer worriedly "The Dalek's right behind them."

"Doctor, I can't sustain the power… The whole system is failing," Van Statten spoke up "Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."

"I'm sorry," the Time Lord whispered into the phone. He hit the enter key and the bulkheads started to lower.

"The vault is sealed," the American announced.

That started the Doctor into motion again "Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?" He listened for a bit before he lowered the phone in horror "I killed her."

"I'm sorry," Van Statten murmured.

"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell but you stopped me," the Doctor ranted.

Van Statten held up his hands "It was the prize of my collection. Much better than… her."

"Your collection?" the Doctor spat "But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater."

"Exactly," the man nodded "I wanted to touch the stars."

The Doctor shook his head "You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you. She was nineteen years old." The Time Lord went over to the girl and knelt down next to her. He gently brushed her tangled hair out of her eyes and smiled when she looked up at him " **How are you doing?** "

" **Scared,** " she admitted quietly. Her voice sounded a lot better after the glass of water she had earlier " **Is the Dalek free now?** "

" **Yes,** " the Doctor murmured, pulling her into his arms when she started shaking " **Don't worry. I will protect you.** "

The girl shook her head almost violently " **The Dalek killed my mother. It was going to kill me, I think… Something happened and then I hurt. It was burning so badly… Who are you?** "

" **Oh, I'm sorry… I'm the Doctor,** " he replied with a small smile.

The girl frowned " **Doctor? I – I think my parents talked about you before.** "

" **What were their name** **s** **?** "

" **I – I don't remember,** " she admitted quietly " **There's lots of stuff that I don't remember now…** "

It was then that Adam burst through the door. The Doctor stood up with the girl on his hip "You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind."

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault," the boy argued.

The Dalek appeared on the screen and the girl tugged at the Doctor's collar, pointing in that direction " _Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies…"_

"You're alive," the Doctor sighed in relief.

Rose smiled shakily " _Can't get rid of me._ "

" _What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?_ " the Dalek demanded, making the Doctor frown. Since when do Daleks know anything about love? Also… he didn't love Rose. She was his companion… Sure, she was nice and compassionate but that was it.

"I killed her once," he sighed, looking down at the frightened girl apologetically " **I'm sorry.** " He hit the key and the bulkhead opened, making the two trapped walk through.

Van Statten whirled to the Doctor "What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?"

"Kill it when it gets here," Adam suggested.

Goddard sighed "All the guns are useless and the alien weapons are in the vault."

Adam smiled crookedly "Only the catalogued ones."

The Doctor jumped on the opportunity "I'll get her to safety first. Then we'll look for weapons." The Time Lord quickly made his way to where the Tardis was parked and set the Tot down in the console room " **I need you to wait here for me. I promise it won't take long and then we'll look after you.** " The girl nodded quickly, settling back onto the captain's seat comfortably. The Doctor looked up at the console "Make sure she's okay. Maybe you could do something about her understanding English?" The Tardis gave an excited hum "Yeah, I know. I wouldn't have expected a Time Tot here in all places either… I have to go now though. Just… Take care of her." With that, the Time Lord hurried out of the door. He had a Dalek to kill and a world to save.


	2. Father's Day

It didn't take long for the Doctor to come back into the Tardis with Rose and in the end, Adam following. As soon as everyone was inside, he put the Tardis in the Time Vortex "Rose. Show him around and then sleep."

"Alright, Doctor," the blonde nodded, throwing a curious glance at the little girl who was still sitting on the captain's chair quietly. Where had she come from and why did the Doctor take her along? Rose was about to ask but one look at the Doctor had her changing her mind. She grabbed Adam's hand and pulled him along "Come on, Adam. I'll show you around."

Once the two humans were gone, the Doctor crouched down to look at the little Tot " **Are you ready for that check-up now?** "

" **No?** " the little one said, slightly cheekily.

That got the Time Lord to laugh a little. He ruffled the girl's hair and swung her into his arms, frowning when he felt her flinch " **I'm not going to hurt you, alright? You don't have to be afraid of me.** "

" **Sorry,** " she mumbled " **It's…** **Not afraid of you. I'm just… I haven't been carried or even touched in a good way in decades.** "

" **Come on, medbay.** " The Doctor carried her to the medical bay where he carefully set her down on one of the beds.

It had taken him over two hours to heal ever injury she had, even the old ones. There were cuts, bruises and even some wrongly healed broken bones. All of that just made him want to go back and kill Van Statten and all of the other people who had her locked up. Once he was done, he put her into a deep, healing sleep. She would need it. It also gave him some time to think of a fitting name for her.

The Time Tot woke up a day and a half later to the Doctor sitting on a chair next to the bed " **Hey,** " he smiled gently " **Are you feeling better?** "

" **Yeah,** " she nodded and blinked " **I'm hungry.** "

" **Go get changed and the Tardis will show you to the kitchen. I'll make you something, alright?** " the Doctor said and pointed to a pile of clothes that the Tardis laid out for her.

" **Okay,** " she smiled and waited for him to get out. The little one looked at the clothes and grinned in excitement. Finally, she could wear something other than those ugly white clothes that she was forced into. She grabbed the jeans-like button down and the black tights. There was also a grey loop scarf and some red Chucks. Once she was dressed, she bit her lip. The Doctor said the Tardis would show her but… how? She reached out to touch the wall gingerly and suddenly, the door opened and a path lit up. Follow the lights, then? Due to the Tardis shifting around several corridors, the Time Tot got there within five minutes.

The Doctor turned around when he heard her enter. He had flour smeared over half his face and down his shirt " **Hey, no laughing,** " he admonished when the girl started giggling at him " **I'm after all going through the trouble to make you some banana pancakes.** "

" **What are pancakes?** " the girl questioned, tilting her head curiously, the humorous sight of the Doctor covered in flour.

" **Only the best breakfast food in the world,** " he gasped in mock shock, placing a plate down in front of her " **The Tardis picked your clothes well, didn't she?** "

The girl nodded enthusiastically " **I really like it.** " She first poked at the pancake curiously.

" **Go on, Rae, try it.** "

Her head snapped up with wide eyes " **Rae?** "

" **Astraea. Do you like it? It means 'Star Maiden',** " the Doctor explained, sitting down next to her.

" **I have a name now?** " the newly named Rae whispered quietly. Suddenly, she threw herself out of her chair and into the Doctor's arms " **Thank you, thank you, thank you.** "

The Time Lord smiled down at Rae and turned her in his lap, pulling the plate to where he was sitting " **You're welcome little one. Now, wanna try the pancake?** "

" **Okay,** " she nodded, picking one of the pancakes up with her hands. Astraea took a small bite and her whole face lit up. Within a minute, she had the whole thing stuffed into her mouth, making her cheeks puff up like a hamster.

The Doctor snorted at the sight of her glare. He had tried to steal one of the pancakes only to have his hand slapped away " **Okay, okay,** " he laughed " **They're yours.** "

"Doctor?" Rose's voice came from the doorway "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, Rose," the Time Lord waved off "Rose, meet Astraea or Rae. **Rae, this is Rose. My Companion.** "

" **I know,** " Rae murmured " **I can understand her… What language is that? Where was I anyway?** "

The Doctor ran a hand through her light brown hair " **English. It's one of Earth's languages. If you can understand it now then that means the Tardis is translating for you.** "

" **She doesn't look like she understands,** " Rae questioned " **Does it only work one way?** "

" **Yup. The Tardis doesn't translate Gallifreyan.** "

Rose cleared her throat in annoyance. She really hated not being able to understand them. Hell, from what she knew the Tardis should have translated everything, right? "I – I was thinking… Could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?"

The Doctor glanced at his Companion in surprise "Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" He was a bit hesitant to grant Rose her wish. The Time Lord wasn't sure whether Rae was up for going out so soon.

"Alright then, if we can't," Rose murmured, shifting in place "If it goes against the laws of time or something, then never mind, just leave it."

"No, I can do anything," the Doctor denied "I'm just more worried about you. Also, I'm not sure if Astraea is up to going out yet."

Since he looked down at the girl on his lap, he didn't see the nasty look Rose shot the girl. If this was the only thing that stopped the Doctor from going to see her father… "I want to see him," she insisted.

" **We can go,** " Rae murmured, leaning back against the man's chest " **I don't want to be the reason you stay in here.** "

" **Are you sure you're up for it?** " the Time Lord raised an eyebrow.

Rae shrugged " **No, but I can try, right? They won't hurt me again, will they?** " The last part was added quietly, almost too quietly.

" **Not if I have anything to say about it,** " he murmured and turned back to Rose "Alright. Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for."

A bit later, the two Gallifreyans were sitting in the register's office with Rose. She had wanted to attend her parent's wedding before going to the day her of her father's death "I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice," the Registrar started.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler," the man started repeating "Take you, Jacqueline Suzanne Suzette Anita…"

Jackie looked around in embarrassment "Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di."

"I thought he'd be taller," Rose murmured to the alien next to her.

The Registrar nodded "To be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold till death do us part."

Once the wedding was over, the Doctor carried Rae back to the Tardis, Rose walking along behind them. Her mind was on where they would go next. Could she really do this? Could she really watch her own father die without doing anything? But she had to… The blonde didn't want him to die alone "November the 7th?" the Doctor questioned, typing in the coordinates along with the date.

"1987," Rose nodded.

When they got out, Astraea looked around. It was all so different from what she was used to… In the days she had been taking from one prison to another, they mostly knocked her out. She had never even seen the sky before. It was so… weird. Blue instead of orange, the trees were mostly bare now but occasionally there was still an orange or yellow leaf dotted on the empty twigs. The buildings were so plain, not golden like she knew. Rae had lived in the Citadel, the golden city of Gallifrey, the home of the Time Lords. She still remembered a little about the mountains of Solace and Solitude, the glass dome around the city. It was just so different from the mostly grey buildings.

"It's so weird," Rose sighed, looking around "The day my father died. I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day."

"The past is another country," the Doctor remarked, keeping an eye on Rae. He smiled lightly when he saw her looking around with wide eyes "1987's just the Isle of Wight. Are you sure about this?"

Rose nodded "Yeah."

When a car drove up on the street, Rae jumped back into the Doctor " **What is that?** "

" **A car,** " the Doctor grinned " **Humans use it as a mode of transportation.** "

" **How does it work?** " she tilted her head curiously.

The Time Lord put one of his hands onto her head " **I'll explain later, alright?** "

" **Okay,** " Rae nodded, continuing with her exploration of this strange world.

"This is it," Rose breathed nervously "Jordan Road. He was late. He's been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase." At that moment a green van came around the corner "He got out of the car…" It pulled into the curb "And crossed the road. Oh, God. This is it." As her father got out of the van, the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand. A beige car came around the corner and headed straight for the frozen man. The driver shielded his face with his arm and just kept going, leaving Rose's father and the broken vase in the middle of the road.

"Go to him," the Doctor murmured "Quick."

Rose didn't move, she was just staring at the man before running off. We were just around the corner as sirens approached "It's too late now," she whispered "By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead. He can't die on his own. Can I try again?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment before he took them back again "Right," he whispered, peaking around the corner "That's the first us. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait till she runs off and he follows, then go to your dad." He placed a restraining hand on Rae's shoulder, making sure to keep her from being seen by her previous self.

"I can't do this," the blonde human pressed out.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want," the Doctor soothed "But this is the last time we can be here." Suddenly, Rose ran forward, just as her father stepped out of the car "Rose… No!"

The blonde dashed past her earlier self and pushed Pete out of the path of the speeding car. The vase rolled away, unbroken, while the earlier versions of the time travelers vanished "I did it. Oh, my God, looking at you. You're alive! That car was going to kill you."

Rae looked at the man and then up at the Doctor " **Did she just change the timeline?** "

The Doctor froze " **You can see the change? That shouldn't be possible… You haven't been to the Academy yet, have you?** "

" **I could always see time.** **I think my parents were surprised as well… But I can't really remember.** **Why?** "

" **That's something you learn after you look into the Time Vortex…,** " he knelt down in front of her " **I'm just a bit surprised. It's a good thing though.** **How about you tell me what you see?** "

Rae looked back at the red-haired man who was still talking with Rose " **There's a wound in time… Something broke. I don't know… What does that mean?** "

" **It means that Rose put us all in danger,** " the Doctor said darkly, walking over to the blonde when she waved for them to come along.

"Right," Pete murmured when we entered his flat "There we go. Sorry about the mess. If you want a cup of tea, the kitchen's just down there, milk's in the fridge." He stopped "Well, it would be, wouldn't it.. Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always through if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt, make a lot of money out of that. Sell it to students and things. I should write that down. Anyway, never mind that, excuse me for a minute. Got to go and change." He walked off into the bedroom, leaving the three-time travelers on their own.

"All the stuff mum kept," Rose smiled, walking around happily, completely oblivious to the Doctor's stormy expression "His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink. Here it is, on display. Where it should be. Third prize at bowling. First two got to go to Didcot. Health drink," she laughed "Tonics, mum used to call them. He made his money selling this Vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs. He was so clever. Solar power. Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can. Okay, look," Rose sighed, finally catching on the mood in the room "I'll tell him you're not my boyfriend."

"When we met," the Doctor started quietly "I said travel with me in space. You said no. Then I said time machine."

Rose laughed at him "It wasn't some big plan. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it."

The Doctor scoffed in annoyance "I did it again. I picked another stupid ape. I should have known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you. You don't even care that you put the whole world in danger. Worse still, you put Rae in danger."

"Oh, so now she is more important than the life of my father?" Rose shouted, getting sick of the Doctor only having eyes for the child. What was so interesting about her anyway?

"Yes," the Doctor nodded "Because she was tortured for decades, locked up. I found a child from my planet and you could possibly take her away from me with this stunt."

Rose rolled her eyes "It's not like I changed history. Not much. I mean, he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything."

"Rose, there's a man alive who wasn't alive before," the Doctor tried to explain "An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive."

"Oh," the blonde laughed nastily "I get it. For once you're not the most important man in my life."

The Doctor gaped at his Companion "Let's see how you get on without me, then. Give me the key. The Tardis key. If I'm so insignificant, give it back."

"Alright then," Rose slapped the key onto the Doctor's outstretched palm "I will."

"You've got what you wanted," the Time Lord told her, picking up Astraea "So that's goodbye, then."

Rose groaned "You don't scare me. I know how sad you are," she smirked "You'll be back in a minute or you'll hang around outside the Tardis waiting for me. And I'll make you wait a long time."

"Was," the Doctor pointed out.

"What?" the blonde blinked.

"Was alone," the Time Lord said "I'm not alone. I have Astraea now. **Right, little one?** "

" **Yep,** " the girl grinned and bounced a little in his arms. She laid her head down on the Doctor's shoulder when he practically stormed out of the flat.

" **Doctor? What happened to the boy? The one who worked for the bad man?** " Rae asked when they were walking towards the Tardis.

The Doctor blinked " **He's home. He did something** **naughty.** " Rae nodded and relaxed into the Time Lord's arms. She hadn't been happy that the Doctor took someone from the place where she had gotten hurt. Now that he was gone, she could finally try to forget about what happened. Her past was in the past.

Outside of the Tardis, the Doctor set Rae down to unlock the doors, opening them to reveal an empty police box. The whole Tardis interior was missing "Rose," the Doctor breathed angrily. He quickly picked up Rae again and ran off to where he knew the wedding was going to be. Once they reached the ground, the Doctor started shouting at the blonde "Rose! Get in the church!" Rose turned, a smug smile on her face "Get in the church." A large thing with bat-like wings appeared in the sky, hissing and swooping. Rose screamed and the Doctor pushed her down just in time to avoid its talons. Two more creatures appeared, randomly trying to pounce on people.

"Oh, my God," a woman breathed "What are they?"

"Inside," the Doctor commanded, pushing several people in the direction of the doors.

The groom looked around frantically "Sarah!"

"Stay in there!" the Doctor told him. An older man tried to run away but he got pounced on, while another blocked the bride's path. She screamed but instead of killing her, the creature instead jumped on the vicar "In!" The Time Lord had gotten the bride's party inside and slammed the doors on the creatures with Rae safely behind him "They can't get in. Old windows and doors," he soothed the scared people "Okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. What else? Go and check the other doors. Move!"

"What's happening?" Jackie demanded, staring at the man who seemed to know what was going on "What are they? What are they?"

The Doctor sighed and pulled Rae over to sit near the alter "There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage." He looked down at Astraea who was breathing heavily " **Are you alright?** "

" **I – I can't understand anything anymore… What's going on?** " she babbled slightly hysterically.

" **It's alright, little Star. We'll get this solved… Somehow. Now, stay here, alright?** "

" **Okay,** " Rae nodded, curling against the stone leg of the altar.

Before the Doctor could walk a foot away from Astraea, Jackie came up to him with her baby "Excuse me… Could you take care of Rose for a moment? I have to look for Mickey."

"Er… Sure," the Time Lord blinked, accepting the carrycot, a dumbfounded look on his face. That would have never happened in his time. The Doctor shrugged at Rae before taking the baby to a bench nearby, so he could keep an eye on Rae as well as baby Rose "Now, Rose," he murmured "You're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?" He looked up when the older Rose walked over "Jackie gave her to me to look after. How times change."

"I'd better be careful," Rose laughed slightly, ignoring the Doctor's tone "I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken." She reached out to touch her younger self but the Doctor caught her arm.

"No," he snapped "Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person. That's a paradox and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in."

Rose sighed in annoyance "I can't do anything right, can I?"

"Since you ask, no. So, don't. Touch. The. Baby," the Doctor intoned, glancing over to the place Rae was watching them from.

"I'm not stupid," Rose cried out.

The Doctor rolled his eyes "Could have fooled me."

"I'm talking to you, Doctor. Can you at least look at me?"

The Doctor sighed angrily "Can you stop being self-centered for a little while? Not only did you have to save your father, you also put Rae into danger."

"Oh, right. I forgot. The girl you found two days ago is way more important than me," Rose gestured.

"Yes, she is," the Doctor exclaimed, accidentally brushing his hand against his pocket "What?" He put his hand onto the leather of his jacket and frowned "It's the Tardis key," he murmured, pulling it out of his pocket, dropping it like a hot potato "It's still connected to the Tardis." The Time Lord pulled off his jacket and picked up the key again. He jumped up the stairs to the altar and stood next to Rae "The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this to bring it back. Once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?"

Stuart picked up his father's mobile phone "This one big enough?"

"Fantastic," the Doctor grinned, running over to him to take it "Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back." He sonicked the battery, while the creatures continued to batter at the doors. When Rae whimpered quietly, the Doctor fell to his knees beside her. He quickly drew her into his arms " **It's alright, little Star. Everything will be fine… We just have to wait for the Tardis to come back.** " Rae snuggled into the Doctor's chest and whined when the Doctor pulled away from her suddenly. He had looked over to where Rose was standing with her father who had just plucked the girl's younger self from Jackie's arms "Rose. No! **Rae,** " the Doctor cried, surging forward to pick up the girl quickly when a reaper appeared inside the church. He pushed her behind his body and to the others "Everyone behind me. I'm the oldest thing in here." The only reason he was protecting these humans now was for Rae. This was entirely Rose's fault… How he had forgiven her earlier, he didn't know anymore.

"Doctor," Rose cried out when the creature pounced on the Time Lord, flying into the Tardis afterward. A second later, both the Tardis and the reaper were gone, leaving Rae alone with a church full of humans she couldn't understand.

A sob made its way out of her mouth and she quickly ran to the place where the Doctor vanished " **No,** " she whispered. The person who saved her, the only person who could understand her was gone.

The bride, Sarah looked at the crying little girl and walked over "Are you alright, little one?" she questioned, resting her hand on the girl's shoulder.

Rae cried out " **No. Please… Not again. No…** " She freed herself from the woman and ran out of sight. None of the adults were paying any attention to the child running past them with tears in her eyes. The Time Tot huddled underneath one of the benches of the side of the church. She continued crying into her knees silently. What was she going to do now?

On the other end of the building, Pete hugged his grown daughter "I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I got to see you. And you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? So, come on, do as your dad says… You going to be there for me, love? Thanks for saving me." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and ran out the door.

When the car hit him, all the people who were eaten reappeared and the Doctor blinked around the church. He looked around to see all of the adults standing near the window " **Rae?** " he called when he didn't see the Tot anywhere. The Doctor tapped Sarah's shoulder "Did you see the girl who was with me earlier?"

"She ran off," the bride explained with a small shrug "I would have followed her but…"

"It's fine," the Time Lord sighed "It wouldn't have been a good idea… Rae is scared of humans." He looked around again and closed his eyes for a moment. There in the back of his head… Where his people used to be – was a tiny imprint of Rae's mind. He could feel her fear " **Rae?** " he called again, walking towards the back of the church. When he was closer to the altar, the Time Lord could hear quiet crying " **Rae!** " There underneath one of the benches was a pair of red Chucks " **Come on, Little Star.** "

" **Doctor?** " the stuffy voice of Rae murmured shortly before her head popped out from under the bench. Within a second she was up and attached to the Doctor's legs.

The Doctor smiled down at her and picked her up " **I'm here little one.** "

" **You were gone… The humans…,** " she sobbed, hiding her face in his shoulder.

" **Shh,** " he hushed, carrying the child out of the church.

Rae tightened her arms around his neck " **Don't leave me again? Doctor… Please?** "

" **Theta,** " the Doctor told her " **Call me… Theta. It's the name I used at the Academy… Probably easier than calling me Doctor.** " He set Astraea down and opened the door to the Tardis, letting the girl in " **Now I'm going to get Rose and you're going to go to your room.** "

Rae looked up **"I have a room?** "

" **Of course, you do. The Tardis will show you… I'll come by later,** " he ruffled her head and turned to collect his human Companion. While he was still angry at Rose for putting Rae in danger, he decided to give her another chance.


	3. The Empty Child

Rae was gripping the edges of the captain's seat tightly while the Tardis was chasing a small spacecraft through the vortex. The Doctor – No, Theta – had spent the last few days reassuring the Time Tot that he wouldn't leave her again. He actually wanted to show her Woman Wept with its frozen waves but then an alarm started going off a few minutes ago.

"What's the emergency?" Rose questioned. The Time Lord had more or less forgiven her for being a 'stupid ape'. While he didn't like what could have happened, everything turned out alright in the end.

"It's mauve," the Doctor called back.

Rose tilted her head in confusion "Mauve?"

"The universally recognised colour for danger," he replied, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the little girl was alright. She had always been pretty quiet but ever since the church incident as he started calling it, she withdrew even more. Barely talked to him anymore and if she did it was usually short one word sentences.

"What happened to red?"

The Doctor sighed "That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing…" He shook his head to clear out the thoughts "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Where it goes, we go."

"And that's safe?" Rose frowned.

"Totally," the Time Lord nodded, ducking when the console exploded "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us." He steadied Rae when she was about to fall from the seat and brought her to stand between his body and the console.

The blonde leaned closer "What exactly is that thing?"

"No idea," the Doctor shrugged.

"Then why are we chasing it?"

"It's mauve," the Time Lord pointed out "And dangerous and about thirty seconds from the centre of London." After the Tardis landed, he ushered Rae outside with him, turning to Rose "Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into the Earth?"

Rose tilted her head "Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?"

"Of all the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow," the Time Lord complained, over-exaggerating a bit, trying to get Rae to laugh. The little girl's lips twitched but that's as far as he got. Well, at least it worked a little "Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."

"A month?" the blonde gaped "We were right behind it…"

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his neck "It was jumping time tracks all over the place. We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"

"Yes," Rose nodded "How much is a little?"

"A bit." The Doctor mumbled out the words, staring at Astraea with a slightly forlorn expression. He hated the fact that she was acting this way, not that the Time Lord could blame her. She had been way better than he imagined her being after having been locked away for so many years… But she was only a Tot after all and that meant that her emotions were a bit fragile. Maybe it helped that she couldn't understand what the humans were saying to her. She only knew that they hurt her but not why…

Rose crossed her arms, not liking the way the Doctor was ignoring her "Is that exactly a bit?"

The Time Lord shrugged "Ish."

"What's the plan then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?"

"Rose," the Doctor spoke up with a small grin "It hit the middle of London with a loud bang. I'm going to ask." He showed the blonde human his wallet with the psychic paper " **You're going to stay with Rose, alright? I don't think you need to be in there.** "

Rae nodded quietly while Rose read the name on the psychic paper "Doctor John Smith. Ministry of Asteroids... Not very Spock, is it? Just asking."

"Door, music, people," the Doctor listed, looking at the door to the nightclub "What do you think?"

The human groaned "I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?"

The Time Lord opened the door with his sonic and looked back at Rose "Look after Rae, alright?" He stopped for a moment and glanced down at her t-shirt "Are you sure about that shirt?"

"Too early to say," Rose shrugged, ignoring the part about having to look after the little girl who was still standing close to the Tardis "I'm taking it out for a spin." But the Doctor was already gone, leaving the blonde human with the Time Tot "Great... Why do I get charged with the little brat?" she mumbled under her breath. It was then that she heard a voice from somewhere. A young voice, calling out for his mother. Rose looked up in concern, seeing a child standing on the edge of a roof "Are you alright up there?"

"Mummy?" The blonde had enough, she snapped at Rae to stay where she was and sprinted up the fire escape staircase closer to the little boy. Better to make sure a human was alright than to have to look after the freak who can't even speak English.

Rae looked after Rose with wide eyes and then nervously glanced around the alley. She shivered in fear and jumped when there was a loud sound. The girl glanced back to the door of the club and ran back to the Tardis, pressing her hand to the door " **Please,** " she whispered under her breath " **Please let me in…** " The door clicked open immediately and Rae inside, trying to suppress the tears that were forming in her eyes. The Tardis could sense the Tot's fear and started humming a lullaby in the child's mind, calming her down a little.

"Rose? Rae?" the Doctor knocked on the Tardis door. He frowned when he heard the old girl humming one of Gallifrey's few lullabies "Now, what are you doing that for? **Rae?** " He pushed the door open to find the console room seemingly empty " **Rae? Are you here?** " The Time Lord looked around until he heard sniffling " **Astraea? What happened, little** **o** **ne?** "

" **N – Nothing, Theta…** " the Tot stuttered.

The Doctor shook his head " **Don't lie to me, Rae. What. Happened?** "

The girl shrugged " **There was a kid on the roof… Rose went to help him and I got scared… I don't like being alone.** "

" **A child?** " the Doctor closed his eyes for a moment. So Rose left to help someone else? While he wasn't too happy about this, he understood. He would have to talk to the blonde though. Anything could have happened to Rae while she was off on her own " **Are you up for looking for a girl? No, wait… Two girls?** "

Rae shook her head lightly and reached her hands up. She was tired but every time she closed her eyes she was seeing the Doctor taken from her or flashes from the Time War. Daleks, flames and screams. They were haunting the girl's dreams, not really helping with her recovery at all. She sort of trusted the Doctor to take care of her because he was the only person who understood her in years. So many years passed and she didn't know what was going on around her. There was only hurt and pain but she didn't know how to stop it… Nothing they said made any sense to her. It stopped when the Doctor came. That, at least, earned him enough of her trust.

The Doctor's lips twitched and he quickly picked the small girl up, placing her on his waist " **So that's how you want to do it then, is it?** "

" **Hm,** " Rae hummed, laying her head on the older Time Lord's shoulder as he started to leave the Tardis, walking in the direction he thought the girl from earlier vanished.

They walked around a while before the Doctor saw something peculiar. Several kids were sneaking into a house that seemed to belong to a remotely well-off family " **Now that is weird…** " He glanced down to see Rae's eyes shut, her breathing somewhat heavier than when she was awake. The Tot wasn't fully asleep but she was well on her way. He carried her to the house, walking in after the boys.

"It's got to be black market," one of the boys wondered "You couldn't get all this on coupons."

"Ernie," the girl from before scolded "How many times? We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up."

Ernie whined "Oh, Nancy."

The two Gallifreyans snuck into the room and sat at the end of the table, Rae in the Doctor's lap. Nancy looked at one of the younger boys close to her "Haven't seen you at one of these before."

"He told me about it," the boy smiled shyly.

"Sleeping rough?" Nancy questioned sympathetically.

The boy nodded "Yes, miss."

She sighed sadly and finished carving the meat "Alright, then. One slice each and I want to see everyone chewing properly." The girl handed around the platter.

"Thank you, miss."

"Thanks, miss."

"Thank you, miss."

When the platter reached the Doctor he grabbed it from one of the boys and took two slices "Thanks, miss," he grinned cheerfully. The children started to panic, making Rae look around in fear. Panic was bad, right? People hurt others when they panic " **It's alright, Rae. I promise you… We just scared them. They won't hurt you.** "

"It's alright," Nancy called to all the children around her "Everybody stay where you are."

The Time Lord looked up at them again "Good here, isn't it? Who's got the salt?"

"Back in your seats," Nancy commanded "They shouldn't be here either." She had seen the little girl in the man's lap. She looked thin, even worse than some of the children who were here.

Rae looked around at the children curiously, glancing up at the Doctor pleadingly and then back to the children. Now that everyone had calmed down she was quite curious about the other children. Even back on Gallifrey, she had never really been around others her age. Her parents had kept her isolated from the others… and there wasn't much in the sense of children at the places she had been kept " **Hello,** " she murmured, looking at the boy next to her.

" **Rae,** " the Doctor breathed when the boy Rae was talking to looked at them in confusion " **They don't understand you, child.** "

Tears gathered in her eyes " **But why?** "

" **I will teach you English, alright? But for now, we have to concentrate.** " The Time Lord patted the young girl's hair soothingly and turned to the other children "So, you lot. What's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Ernie questioned suspiciously.

The Doctor smiled lightly "You're homeless, right? Living rough?"

"Why do you want to know that?" another one of the boys squinted "Are you a copper? And who is that? What language are you speaking?"

"I'm not a copper," the Doctor laughed "And that little one here is Rae. She doesn't speak English… And anyway, what's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving? I make it 1941… You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should have been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated," one of the boys called out "Sent me to a farm."

The Time Lord frowned "Why did you come back?"

"There was a man there," the boy spoke up quietly, a haunted look in his eyes.

Another boy nodded "Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago."

Ernie glared at the one who had spoken "Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food."

"Yeah," the one from before grinned "Nancy always gets the best food for us."

The Doctor smiled at them "So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?"

"What is?" she squinted, keeping half an eye out for the girl on the man's lap. She seemed comfortable but you could never know… She doubted that the girl was related to the older man but something connected them. As long as the man didn't hurt the small girl then Nancy wouldn't mention his obvious soft spot for the child.

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo," the Doctor explained "Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you."

Nancy raised a challenging eyebrow "Something wrong with that?"

"Wrong with it?" the Time Lord smirked "It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

"Why did you follow me?" the older girl asked "What do you want?"

The Doctor sighed, carding a hand through his protégée's hair "I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favour," Nancy snapped lightly "I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you."

"Great, thanks," the Doctor nodded, not quite satisfied with the response but it was her decision whether to tell him or not "And I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?" He looked up at Nancy when she grabbed his plate and pouted "What have I done wrong?"

Nancy's lips raised into a small smile "You took two slices." Her response made the other children giggle and she crouched down to be closer to the girl – Rae if she remembered right. Nancy carefully held out the plate to her "Would you like some?"

Rae bit her lip nervously, glancing from the older girl to the plate and up to the Doctor. The Time Lord looked down at her " **It's meat,** " he started explaining " **Different from what we had on Gallifrey but not too bad. You can try it if you want to.** "

" **Different how?** " the Time Tot frowned, looking at the slice of pink meat suspiciously. It didn't look like it would taste very well and everything she had gotten to eat since she joined the Doctor was healthy food because the older Time Lord wanted her to gain 'good weigh' or whatever " **I don't think I want to?** "

The Doctor's lips twitched "She's fine," he told Nancy "Thank you though."

Nancy nodded and got up, passing the plate to one of the boys "No girls, no flags. Anything else before you leave?"

"Yeah, actually," the Doctor blinked, surprised at her change in mood "Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere and it would have looked something like… this." He held up a rough sketch of the craft the Tardis had been following earlier.

Suddenly, a knock on the door made everyone jump " _Mummy?_ " The Doctor glanced out of the window, seeing a boy in a gas mask " _Mummy?_ "

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy demanded, sounding panicked.

Ernie pointed at the two aliens "They were."

"No," the girl shook her head "They came round the back. Who came in the front?"

"Me."

Nancy looked at him urgently "Did you close the door?"

" _Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?_ "

The girl took one look at the children and ran out into the hallway, bolting the front door "What's this, then?" the Doctor questioned, adjusting Rae on his hip again "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."

"I suppose you'd know," Nancy glared.

Rae hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder and tried to tune out the words. The Doctor raised an eyebrow "I do actually, yes."

"It's not exactly a child," Nancy sighed, rubbing a hand over her face in defeat. Another call of ' _Mummy'_ made the girl turn around, going back to the dining room to get everyone out.

The child on the other side of the door stopped " _Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy._ " His hand came through the letterbox.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor questioned, putting Rae down against the wall " **Stay back, alright?** " When the girl nodded, wide-eyed he turned back to the door.

Before he could reach for the hand, Nancy appeared, throwing something at the door "You mustn't let him touch you."

The Doctor tilted his head in confusion "What happens if he touches you?"

"He'll make you like him," the girl whispered with a small shudder. She had seen in happening…

"And what's he like?"

Nancy shook her head "I've got to go."

The Doctor stopped her with his hand on her arm "Nancy, what's he like?" He had to know. If only to keep Rae save.

"He's empty," Nancy pressed out at the same time as the phone started ringing "It's him… He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw." She grabbed the phone from the Doctor's hand and put it back on the hook "You stay if you want to." The girl turned and ran out the back door.

The boy put his hand back through the letterbox again, revealing a scar on the back of it " _Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in._ "

"You mummy isn't here," the Doctor murmured, glancing at Astraea who was still pressed against the wall.

" _Are you my mummy?_ "

The Doctor frowned "No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens. Well, this chicken…"

" _I'm scared,_ " the child said quietly.

The Time Lord closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Rae when he found her in that museum "Why are those other children frightened of you?"

" _Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs._ "

"Okay," the Doctor murmured "I'm opening the door now. **Stay back a bit, Rae.** " The boy pulled his hand back and the Doctor unbolted the front door. When he wrenched it opened, the boy was gone and the street deserted "Curious," the Time Lord mumbled.

" **Curiouser and curiouser?** " Rae piped up, a mischievous light in her eyes. She was still scared but whenever she heard the word she could help but say that. The Tardis had translated some audiobooks into Gallifreyan and one of them was Alice in Wonderland. Rae loved the story because she found her Wonderland in the Tardis. It was so different from everything she had seen before. Of course, she was aware of Tardises but the girl had never been on one before. Her parents never allowed it… At least that's what she thought. The memories were still pretty hazy but they were getting clearer the more she tried to remember.

" **Alice in Wonderland?** " the Time Lord laughed in amusement, lifting Rae back into his arms " **Let me guess. The Tardis is somehow responsible?** "

Rae giggled and buried her face in the Doctor's neck " **Maybe.** "

The Doctor sighed, still amused at her " **Let's go find Nancy again, shall we? There's something weird going on here.** "

" **Do we have to? I don't like it,** " Rae pouted " **I was scared…** "

" **I'm sorry, little one. But there's something going on and we need to help,** " the Doctor whispered, running a soothing hand over the child's hair. He was glancing around, trying to find the girl from earlier. It took him a while but when he found her, she was just walking towards a shack to hide the food from earlier.

"How did you follow me here?" Nancy yelped when she turned to see the Doctor, smiling at her.

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow "I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it."

Nancy blinked "People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to."

"My nose has special powers," the Doctor pointed out.

"Yeah?" Nancy teased "That's why it's…?"

The Doctor tilted his head, while Rae raised hers "What?"

"Nothing," the girl shook her head quickly before her lips twitched at his look "Do your ears have special powers too?"

Rae giggled when she finally got what the other girl was trying to say, while the Time Lord squinted "What are you trying to say?"

Nancy grinned "Goodnight, Mister."

"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy," the Doctor called out, stopping her in her tracks "And it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that dell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"There was a bomb," Nancy murmured quietly, looking at the ground "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."

The Doctor looked at her seriously "Take me there."

She shook her head "There are soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through and you shouldn't… Not with the girl with you, at least."

"Try me and I'll take care of Rae."

Nancy rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. She wasn't sure whether she wanted the small girl involved but it was out of her hands "You sure you want to know what's going on in there?"

"I really want to know," the Time Lord agreed.

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first," Nancy mumbled, looking up at the man.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow "And who might that be?"

"The Doctor." Rae blinked at the two words and looked up at the Time Lord before looking back at the girl. Nancy didn't seem to notice as she walked away, waving the two to follow her. When they reached the site, the Doctor pulled out a pair of super-binoculars out of his pockets to scan the area "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight. See that building? The hospital."

"What about it?"

Nancy pointed to it "That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him."

"For now," the Doctor murmured, keeping a hand on Rae's head to reassure the Tot. She was shaking a bit but the older Time Lord wasn't sure if it was from the cold or if she was scared. It had to be done though. No matter how badly he wanted to run back to the Tardis and bundle Rae up "I'm more interested in getting in there."

"Talk to the doctor first," Nancy insisted.

"Why?"

The girl turned to look at him again "Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." With those words, she turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" the Doctor asked, stopping her again.

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed," Nancy told him "Should be safe enough now."

The Doctor hummed "Can I ask you a question?" He waited for a nod before asking "Who did you lose? The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it."

Nancy looked down in shame "My little brother. Jamie. One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous but he just… He just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?" the Time Lord asked, sounding sympathetic.

"In the middle of an air raid?" the girl shot back sarcastically "What do you think happened?"

The Doctor let out a small laugh "Amazing."

Nancy frowned. Hadn't she just told him that her brother died? What was so amazing about that? "What is?"

"1941," the Doctor clarified "Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then do what you've got to do. Save the world."

After the girl was gone, the Time Lord walked over to the hospital, using his sonic screwdriver to open the padlock on the ornate metal gates to the grounds " **Are you alright, Astraea?** "

" **Yes,** " Rae nodded but went right back to hiding her face in the Doctor's neck. She was scared. It was too dark and something didn't feel right to her but she didn't want to be a burden. Rae understood why it was important for the Doctor to look into this.

" **I can take you back to the Tardis if you want to,** " the Doctor murmured, opening the door to the hospital.

Rae shook her head silently " **No, takes too long. I'm fine.** " She glanced around the long, dark wards where every bed has a sill patient in it. Each and every one of them was wearing gas masks.

Suddenly, an elderly, grumpy doctor appeared, leaning on a walking stick "You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them."

The Doctor nodded "Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?"

"They're not. Who are you?"

"I'm, er…" the Time Lord stuttered, breaking off "Are you the doctor?"

"Doctor Constantine," he introduced himself "And you are?"

The Doctor shook his head "Nancy sent me."

"Nancy?" he raised his eyebrows "That means you must've been asking about the bomb."

"Yes."

Doctor Constantine hummed "What do you know about it? And why did you bring a child here?"

"Nothing and that's none of your business," the Time Lord shrugged "Why I was asking. What do you know?"

Constantine sighed tiredly. He decided to ignore the answer he got to his other question. It wasn't like he didn't warn the man. It's dangerous in here. For a child especially "Only what it's done."

"These people," the Doctor murmured "They were all caught up in the blast?"

"None of them were," Constantine chuckled then coughed harshly. He fell back into the chair by the desk where normally the ward sister would be.

The Doctor looked down at the man "You're very sick."

"Dying, I should think," Doctor Constantine pointed out "I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?"

"I have my moments," the Time Lord nodded.

Constantine studied the man closely "Have you examined any of them yet?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head. He walked over to the door of the ward and set Rae down. The way this Doctor Constantine was speaking… He really didn't want her anywhere near this. Maybe he should have taken the time to get her back to the Tardis " **No matter what happens, promise me you'll run if anything happens to me.** "

" **No,** " Rae shouted, tears starting to fall from her eyes " **Please don't leave me.** "

The Doctor tugged a few strands of hair behind her ear " **I'm not leaving you, love. I promised but in case anything happens.** " He patted her head again and stood up, walking back towards Constantine "Which one?"

"Anyone," the old man smiled painfully. The Doctor pointed his sonic at the nearest person, scanning them "Conclusion?"

The Doctor looked down at the body with sorrow shining in his eyes "Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another," the old man pointed out.

The Doctor's eyes widened "This isn't possible. They've all got the same injuries."

"Yes."

"Exactly the same," the Time Lord clarified.

Constantine nodded "Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand.

"How did this happen? How did it start?" the Doctor questioned.

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim."

The Doctor tilted his head "Dead?"

"At first," Constantine nodded "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and every nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma."

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

"Alright," the Doctor muttered in annoyance and surprise "What was the cause of death?"

Constantine smile enigmatically "There wasn't one. They're not dead." He hit a wastebasket with his stick and the noise made the patients sit up in their beds. Rae yelped from her place at the door and stumbled back, into the corridor. She could still see the old man but the Doctor was out of her sight now. There was no way she would go back into that room though… "It's alright. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"And they've just been left here?" Nobody's doing anything?" the Doctor exclaimed, walking over to the doctor again.

Constantine shrugged "I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?"

"Just you?" the Doctor murmured, looking at the Time Tot in the hallway "You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather," Constantine explained "Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor."

The Time Lord sent the old man a small smile "Yeah. I know the feeling." He looked at Rae again. He had gotten another chance at being a father… This time he would do everything in his power to protect his family. Especially with the way last time ended…

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb," the sick man coughed.

"Probably too late," the Doctor murmured.

Constantine shook his head "No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London." He started coughing again, worse this time "Stay back, stay back," he commanded, holding his hand out to stop the Doctor "Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" the Doctor blinked.

"It was her brother," the old man nodded "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me but she might… Mu… me… Are you my mummy?" Doctor Constantine's face turned into a gas mask before he slumped in the chair.

The Doctor turned from the sight when he heard Rae's scream " **No, no, no. Look at me, little one. It's alright. You're alright… Just breath, Astraea.** " He shushed her, trying to get the girl to calm down. Not that it was doing much good. Rae was panicked and he couldn't even blame her. Had he been her age, he would have reacted the same way. Again… He really should have taken her back to the Tardis when he had the chance.

"Hello?" a man's voice called from somewhere down the corridor. The Doctor looked up for a moment but quickly focussed back on the crying girl. He ignored the second call that sounded a lot like Rose and held his hand over Rae's forehead. While the Doctor didn't like the idea, he wanted to make sure that Rae wouldn't get traumatized any more than she already was "Good evening," the man from before spoke up, standing next to Rose "Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

It was then that Astraea slumped in the Doctor's arms, eyes closed "Thank God," the Doctor muttered, picking the limp girl up in his arms "Yeah, hello." He nodded absentmindedly, looking up at the blonde.

"He knows," she spoke up "I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock," Jack greeted, walking past them into the ward.

The Doctor frowned at his Companion "Mister Spock?"

Rose threw up her hands "What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping," he sighed "Where have you been We're in the middle of a London Blitz and you left Rae on her own."

The blonde rolled her eyes "I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid. Listen, what's a Chula warship?"

"Chula?" the Doctor gaped, storming back into the ward to confront the man Rose brought "What kind of Chula ship landed here?"

"What?" Jack blinked, looking up from his Vortex Manipulator.

Rose was the one to speak up "He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?"

Jack looked from one to the other "Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this."

"This started at the bomb site," the Doctor snarled, adjusting his grip on the Tot "It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?"

"An ambulance," Jack cried "Look." He produced a hologram of it from his Vortex Manipulator "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty… I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait…"

Rose blinked "Bait?" she cut in.

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk," Jack explained.

"You said it was a warship," Rose reminded him.

The ex-Time Agent rolled his eyes. Was she really that naive? "They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you?"

The blonde shook her head with a grin "Just a couple more freelancers."

"Oh," Jack groaned "Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough but U-Boat Captain? And then there's the fact that you're carrying a little girl…" He looked at the unconscious child and frowned "Is she alright?"

"She's fine," the Doctor waved off "Had to knock her out earlier. She wouldn't calm down."

"Anyway, whatever is happening here has got nothing to do with that ship," Jack finished.

Rose turned to look at the Doctor "What is happening here?"

"Human DNA is being rewritten," the Time Lord answered "By an idiot."

The blonde frowned "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," the Doctor sighed "Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"

Suddenly, the patients sat up " _Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?_ "

"What's happening?" Rose cried in fear.

The Doctor was backing away with wide eyes "I don't know… But suddenly I'm really glad that Rae is sleeping."

All of the patients stood up, staggering towards the group " _Mummy? Mummy._ "

"Don't let them touch you," the Doctor warned.

The blonde turned her head "What happens if they touch us?"

"You're looking at it." Another step back and the time travellers were all pressed against the wall, surrounded by the creepy gasmasks zombies.

" _Help me, mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy._ "


	4. The Doctor Dances

The Doctor quickly turned, handing the sleeping Tot to Jack. At the moment, it didn't matter whether the Captain was at fault here or not. He just had to keep Rae safe for a little while longer "Hold her for me, would you?" Without waiting for an answer, he whirled back around to face the patients "Go to your room," the Time Lord ordered, pointing into the opposite direction violently "Go to your room. I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross. Go to your room." The patients hung their heads in shame, shuffling away petulantly. The Doctor sighed in relief "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words."

Rose leaned around the Doctor, once again trying to stay as far away from the girl in Jack's arms "Why are they all wearing gas masks?"

"They're not," Jack pointed out, shifting the little girl on his hip awkwardly "Those masks are flesh and bone." He glanced at the Doctor "I appear to be holding a child."

The Time Lord smirked "And you will continue to. If Rae gets hurt, you'll regret it. Now, how was your con supposed to work?"

Jack looked down at the peacefully sleeping girl and groaned "Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent up front, oops." He shrugged "A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."

"Yeah," the Doctor muttered in disgust "Perfect."

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners," the Captain shrugged with a small grin "Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day. Getting a hint of disapproval."

The Doctor swiped his hands around in a large arc "Take a look around the room. This is what your harmless piece of space-junk did."

"It was a burnt out medical transporter," the Captain exclaimed defensively "It was empty."

The Time Lord shook his head "Rose."

"Are we getting out of here?" the blonde hurried.

"We're going upstairs," the Doctor pointed out, turning to the door.

Jack didn't like being ignored. He was sure that this – whatever this was – had nothing to do with him "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one. I don't know what's happening here but believe, I had nothing to do with it."

"I'll tell you what's happening," the Doctor pointed out, just before he exited the room "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day."

A siren sounded through the walls "What's that?" Rose frowned.

"The all clear," Jack murmured.

"I wish," the Time Lord snorted.

As soon as he was gone, Jack immediately followed "Mister Spock?"

"Doctor?" Rose called, jogging past Jack.

"Have you got a blaster?" The Doctor's voice was muffled but obviously behind them, so the two of them stopped, turning back.

Jack shrugged "Sure." He ran up the stairs, careful not to jostle the little girl too much. Maybe he should stop calling her a little girl. The Doctor had called her Rae… Was that short for something? He'd have to ask later.

"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken," the Doctor explained, standing in front of a locked door.

Rose tilted her head "What happened?"

"Let's find out," the Time Lord grinned "Get it open." He picked Rae from the man's arms to enable him to use his blaster. The Doctor looked down at the little head that was resting on his leather covered shoulder. Rae looked so peaceful… Over the last few days, he had gotten somewhat worried about her and her nightmares but maybe it would help if she slept through this nightmare.

The blonde girl raised an eyebrow at the Doctor "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"

"Nothing," he grinned as Jack's blaster disintegrated the lock "Sonic blaster, fifty-first century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?"

"You've been to the factories?" the ex-Time Agent questioned, rolling his eyes when the Doctor plopped the – Rae back into his arms. What was it with this guy and him having to carry a sleeping child?

The Doctor nodded "Once."

Jack sighed "Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot."

"As I said," the Doctor muttered sheepishly "Once. There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."

Rose glanced from the door to Jack appreciatively "Nice blast pattern," she complimented, glancing at the Doctor from the corner of her eye.

"Digital," he shrugged, once again rearranging Rae on his hip.

"Squareness gun," the blonde tried again.

Jack threw her a weird look "Yeah."

"I like it," she flirted.

The Captain rolled his eyes and entered the room after the Doctor, looking around the room curiously "Something got out of here."

The Doctor nodded "Yeah. And?"

"Something powerful," Jack continued "Angry."

"Powerful and angry," the Doctor repeated, looking around the room. There were crayon drawings scattered all over the floor and a teddy bear on the bed.

Jack inhaled sharply "A child? I suppose this explains Mummy."

"How would a child do this?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor then turned on a tape machine and two voices filled the room.

" _Do you know where you are?_ " a man asked.

" _Are you my mummy?_ " It was the voice of a child. A voice that was very familiar to Rose and the Doctor. They had both heard it before.

" _Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?_ " Constantine asked the child.

" _Are you my mummy?_ " the child repeated.

" _What do you want? Do you know…_ " the man was cut off.

" _I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?_ "

"Doctor, I've heard the voice before," Rose said.

"Me too," he replied grimly.

" _Mummy?_ " the child repeated again.

"Always are you my mummy… like he doesn't know," Rose muttered.

" _Mummy?_ " Guess who said that.

"Why doesn't he know?" Rose asked.

" _Are you there, mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?_ "

"Can you sense it?" the Doctor spoke up, looking around the room uneasily.

"Sense what?" Jack asked, coming to stand next to him.

The Time Lord sighed impatiently "Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it? Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"

Rose rolled her eyes "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species."

"Rose, I'm thinking," the Doctor chided.

The blonde didn't care though, just babbling on "He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than."

"There are these children living rough round the bomb sites," the Doctor muttered "They come out during air-raids looking for food."

" _Mummy, please?_ " the child's voice sounded again from the tape.

The Doctor continued "Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?"

"It was a med ship," Jack exclaimed in annoyance "It was harmless."

"Yes," the Doctor rolled his eyes "You keep saying harmless. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"

Rose looked at the Time Lord in confusion "Altered how?"

The tape ran out, making a clicking noise that echoes through the room "I'm here."

"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful," the Doctor told Rose "It doesn't know it yet, but it will do. It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room."

"Doctor?" Rose blinked.

"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?" the child – Jamie – questioned.

The Time Lord looked at the other two, a sheepish expression on his face "I sent it to its room. This is its room." He turned around and looked at the boy in the gas mask.

"Are you my mummy? Mummy?" Jamie tilted his head.

Rose glanced at the Doctor, panicking "Doctor?"

Jack positioned himself in front of us "Okay, on my signal make for the door." He reached into his pocket "Now!" The Captain aimed what should have been his blaster at the zombie child, shielding Rae at the same time. He froze and stared at the banana in his hand in annoyance. Really?

The Doctor pulled Jack's blaster from his belt and made a nice square hole in the wall "Go now! Don't drop the banana."

"Why not?!" Jack demanded, stuffing the fruit back into his coat pocket.

"Good source of potassium," the Time Lord shrugged.

The Captain stormed past him, snatching his blaster back "Give me that." He turned back around, repairing the hole in the wall "Digital rewind. Nice switch."

"It's from the groves of Villengard," the Time Lord proclaimed, putting the banana back into his pocket "I thought it was appropriate."

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

The Doctor just shrugged "Bananas are good."

"Doctor!" Rose shrieked when the wall started to crack.

"Come on," the Time Lord waved, turning only to stop and whirl around. They were completely surrounded by patients on either side. Unconsciously, the Doctor turned to cage Rae between his and Jack's body "It's keeping us here till it can get at us."

Jack glanced at the patients uneasily "It's controlling them?"

"It is them," the Doctor corrected "It's every living thing in this hospital."

"Okay," the ex-Time Agent mumbled, looking down at his blaster "This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, what you got?"

The Time Lord shifted a bit "It's sonic. Totally sonic! I am sonicked up."

"A sonic what?" Jack shouted, fed-up with the Doctor's hedging.

"Screwdriver," the Time Lord burst out at the same time as Rose grabbed Jack's wrist, pointing the blaster at the floor.

"Going down," she warned and as soon as the four of them fell ungracefully a floor down. The ex-Time Agent quickly repaired the hole in the ceiling, checking on the girl who landed on top of him.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose fussed, looking at the Time Lord worriedly.

The Doctor dusted himself off "Could've used a warning," he grumbled "Rae could have been hurt, you know?"

"Oh, the gratitude," the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack demanded.

The Doctor's shoulder when he crossed his arms defensively "I do."

Jack frowned "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ooh, this could be a little more sonic?"

"What, you've never been bored?" the Doctor asked "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"

At the same time as Rose found a light switch, the patients sat up in their beds "Mummy. Mummy."

"Door," Jack called, rushing towards it with the other two following. At the front of the group, Jack was trying to use his blaster to get through the door but nothing happened "Damn it. It's the special features," he grumbled "They really drain the battery."

"Battery?" Rose asked, sounding unimpressed "That's so lame." The Doctor bent down to hold his sonic to the lock, making the door swing open quickly.

"I was going to send for another one but somebody's got to blow up the factory," Jack complained, glaring at the Doctor.

Rose nodded at Jack's words "Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew up my job. That's practically how he communicates."

The Doctor sighed, ignoring their chatter "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."

"The door?" the Captain exclaimed, leaning against the table to take some of the strain off his arms. It was surprisingly difficult to carry a dead weight for a while, no matter the actual weight it was. Even a pencil could get heavy after an hour or so "The wall didn't hold it."

"Well, it's got to find us first," the Doctor pointed out "Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets."

Jack gave him an unamused look "Well, you've got a banana and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

"Window," the Doctor said.

"Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories," Jack shook his head, looking at the wrist strap around his arm.

Rose sighed "And no other exits."

"The assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack commented sarcastically.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes and turned to Rose "So, where'd you pick up this one, then?"

"Doctor," Rose scolded, sitting down in a wheelchair.

Jack smirked at the other man "She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance."

"Okay," the Doctor shrugged, dropping the subject "One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?"

Rose made a noise in the back of her throat "Yeah. Jack just disappeared." The Doctor whirled around to see that the blonde girl was right. Jack had indeed disappeared and he took Rae with him. That made the Doctor even angrier. If anything happened to Rae, then the Time Lord would quite happily kill the man.

On his spaceship, Jack had just put down Rae on his bed and sat down on his seat "Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship." He glanced at the girl for a moment before starting to work on the emergency teleport "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure and I can only take one person with me. I'm working on it. Hang in there."

" _How are you speaking to us?_ " the Doctor's voice crackled through the speaker.

"Om-Com," Jack shrugged "I can call anything with a speaker grill."

The Time Lord hummed " _Now there's a coincidence._ "

"What is?"

" _The child can Om-Com too,_ " the Doctor replied grimly.

Rose inhaled sharply " _He can?_ "

" _Anything with a speaker grill,_ " the Time Lord explained " _Even the Tardis phone._ "

" _What, you mean the child can phone us?_ " the blonde demanded.

As if that wasn't already creepy enough, Jamie's voice sounded through the radio " _And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you._ "

Jack blinked at the speaker "Doctor, can you hear that?"

" _Loud and clear,_ " he replied.

"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do," the ex-Time Agent murmured "Remember this one, Rose?" He pressed a few buttons and Moonlight Serenade started playing. Jack kept one ear on the conversation that was going on in the hospital, while simultaneously keeping an eye on the little girl and overriding the protocols. It took him ten minutes but it was worth it. He turned his chair around when he heard the conversation still going on like before.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the blonde "If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked."

"Yeah?" Rose grinned "Shame I missed that."

Jack snorted "Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I hat to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."

The Doctor immediately sat down next to Rae, checking her over quickly "You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose shit it I."

"Oh, I do," the Captain smirked "She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes."

That was when the Time Lord looked around for the first time "This is a Chula ship."

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter," Jack nodded "Only this one is dangerous."

The Doctor snapped his fingers, making a golden glow enveloped his fingers. Rose blinked in surprise "They're what fixed my hands up. Jack called them… er…"

"Nanobots?" the Doctor guessed "Nanogenes?"

The blonde snapped her fingers "Nanogenes, yeah."

"Subatomic robots," the Time Lord hummed "There's millions f them in here, see?" He held up his hand "Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check for damage, fix any physical flaws." The Doctor turned to Jack "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space-junk."

Jack nodded quietly. This was his chance to prove that he had nothing to do with this "As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever you were doing." The Doctor glanced up from Rae for a moment and after checking her over again, he shook his head at the Captain " **Oh, little One… Better be glad that you're asleep.** "

"So, you used to be a Time Agent and now you're trying to con them?" Rose questioned after several minutes of silence. She had moved closer to Jack, looking at him pointedly.

The ex-Time Agent raised one shoulder in a shrug "If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money."

"For what?"

Jack looked up from what he was doing "Woke up one day when I was still working with them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back."

Rose gasped "They stole your memories?"

"Two years of my life," the Captain nodded "No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me and for all, I know he's right not to." A few seconds later, he clapped his hands "Okay, we're good… Crash site?" Only minutes later, the three-time travelers were standing behind several big crates, watching the scene in front of them. The Doctor was clutching Rae to his chest tightly "There it is," Jack pointed out "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important."

"We've got to get past him," the Doctor pointed out.

Rose straightened he jacket "Are the words distract the guard heading in my general direction?"

Jack shook his head in amusement "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Don't worry," she frowned "I can handle it."

"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town," Jack said, looking at the blonde pointedly "Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him." He waved them away "Don't wait up."

Rose looked after him nervously "Relax," the Doctor assured the blonde "He's a fifty-first-century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."

"How flexible?"

"Well," the Doctor hummed "By his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

Rose raised an eyebrow "Meaning?"

"So many species, so little time," the Time Lord pointed out with a smirk.

The blonde girl blinked for several moments, trying to comprehend what the Doctor was saying "What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission?" she questioned "We seek new life and… and…"

"Dance." They watched Jack run up to the guard on duty. As soon as the man – Algy – fell to his knees before his face turned a gas mask. The Doctor and Rose surged forward from the sidings "Stay back."

Jack held out his hand to the other men who were coming closer "You men, stay away."

"The effect's become airborne, accelerating," the Doctor breathed, looking at Rae carefully. This was bad, this was very bad… What to do? What to do? He should have brought her to the Tardis when he had the chance. Now there was no way of reaching it until this was all over. And as the ultimate 'fuck you' the air raid sirens started up again.

Rose's eyes widened "What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing."

"Ah, here they come again," Jack muttered, looking up at the sky.

The blonde groaned "All we need. Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?"

The Doctor glared at both of them "Never mind about that. If the contaminant is airborne now, there are hours left."

"For what?" Jack questioned.

"Till nothing," the Time Lord pointed out grimly "Forever. For the entire human race." He stopped, looking slightly irritated "And can anyone else hear singing?"

" _Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all._ " The Doctor walked into the shed quietly after handing Rae back to Jack " _Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows the cradle will rock._ " That's when the Time Lord returned with Nancy in tow. The girl looked at the others for a moment, before they all started running to the covered Chula ambulance.

"You see?" Jack gestured "Just an ambulance."

Nancy looked at the man in surprise "That's an ambulance?"

"It's hard to explain," Rose whispered "It's from another world."

Jack climbed up and looked at the area around the keypad "They've been trying to get in."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, tugging a strand of brown hair behind Rae's ear "Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon." Jack started punching in a string of numbers "What are you doing?"

"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." Was the stoic reply he got "Didn't happen last time."

"It hadn't crashed last time," the Doctor pointed out "There'll be emergency protocols."

"Doctor, what is that?" Rose questioned, panic in her voice "Doctor!"

The Time Lord looked around nervously "Captain, secure those gates."

"Why?" Jack blinked.

"Just do it," the Doctor shouted "Nancy, how did you get in here?"

"I cut the wire."

He threw his sonic to Rose "Show Rose. Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty-eight D. Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"

After they were done, Jack was on top of the ambulance again, prying the door open "It's empty. Look at it."

"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter?" the Doctor grounded out, carefully putting Rae down next to the transporter. He needed both hands and the further she stayed away from all this, the better "Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?"

The blonde startled "I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

Her eyes widened in shock "Nanogenes."

"It wasn't empty, Captain," the Doctor pointed out "There were enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

Jack paled drastically "Oh, God."

The Doctor nodded, sounding slightly satisfied when he spoke next "Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask."

"And they brought him back to life?" Rose asked in surprise "They can do that?"

The Doctor scoffed "What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"

Jack closed his eyes "I didn't know," he muttered quietly.

The Doctor worked on the ambulance while the patients approached "Mummy. Mummy."

"Rose!" Nancy called out.

Rose looked at the patients and then over at the Doctor "It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?"

The Time Lord nodded "The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."

"But the gas mask people aren't troops," the blonde pointed out.

"They are now," the Doctor explained "This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you."

"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing."

The Doctor smiled thinly "It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them."

The patients surrounded us, outside the barbed wire. They didn't come any closer though "Why don't they attack?"

"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander," the Time Lord shrugged.

Jack breathed in sharply "The child?"

"Jamie," Nancy snapped.

"What?"

"Not the child," she repeated "Jamie."

Rose looked at the sky and shifted uncomfortably "So how long until the bomb falls?"

Jack glanced at his wrist strap "Any second."

"What's the matter, Captain?" the Doctor mocked "A bit close to the volcano for you?"

Nancy had tears running down her cheeks "He's just a little boy."

"I know," the Doctor murmured softly.

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy," Nancy repeated.

The Doctor sighed "I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."

"So what're we going to do?" Rose inquired.

"I don't know," the Time Lord shook his head.

Nancy let out a low sob "This is my fault."

"No."

"It is," she pointed out "It's all my fault."

The Doctor looked at her with a frown "How can it be your…?" He was cut off by the patients calling for their mummy again when it finally dawned on him "Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"

The bombs that were dropping from the sky got closer. Too close "Doctor, that bomb," Jack called out "We've got seconds."

"You can teleport us out," Rose pointed out.

Jack shook his head "Not you guys. The nav-com is back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols."

"So it's volcano day. Do what you've got to," the Doctor pointed out grimly.

"Jack?" the blonde frowned when the man vanished.

"How old were you five years ago?" the Time Lord questioned "Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he? A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."

The gate opened and Jamie came closer to us "Are you my mummy?"

"He's going to keep asking, Nancy," the Doctor pointed out gently "He's never going to stop. Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."

Nancy and Jamie walked towards each other "Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?"

"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy," Nancy whispered.

"Mummy?"

"I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"Yes." Nancy had tears in her eyes again.

"Are you my mummy?"

The Doctor cursed lowly "He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left."

Nancy took a deep breath "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She hugged Jamie and a cloud of nanogenes surrounded them.

"What's happening? Doctor, it's changing her, we should…" Rose panicked.

"Shush!" the Doctor snapped. This had to work. He couldn't just let the whole human race die… He couldn't let Rae die with them "Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out."

"What's happening?"

The Time Lord laughed in relief "See? Recognizing the same DNA." Jamie let go and Nancy fell on the ground "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." The Doctor removed Jamie's gas mask and he slumped when it came off "Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music – you're going to love it."

"What happened?" Nancy questioned, still sitting on the ground in a daze.

"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them! Ha-ha! Mother knows best!"

The girl looked at her child softly "Oh, Jamie."

Rose gasped "Doctor, that bomb."

He didn't even turn to look at the approaching projectile "Taken care of it."

"How?"

"Psychology," he shrugged. The bomb hurtled towards them and got caught in Jack's light beam just before impact.

A second later, Jack was sitting on top of the bomb "Doctor!"

"Good lad!" the Time Lord praised.

Jack looked down "The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long."

"Change of plan," the Doctor called up "Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?"

Jack nodded from where he was sitting "Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodbye," he smiled, vanishing along with the bomb. A moment later, he was back "By the way, love the t-shirt." He vanished again. The spaceship sucked up the light beam and flew off, while the Doctor summoned the nanogenes to himself.

Rose frowned "What are you doing?"

"Software patch," the Time Lord mumbled "Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." He threw the nanogenes to the waiting patients who fell to the ground "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives." The Doctor crouched down to pick up Rae, settling her on his hip. One of his hands came up to rest on the girl's head, gently bringing her back to reality. Now that everything was over, he wanted her to be able to say goodbye to Nancy. While the girl was slowly stirring, the Doctor walked up to the doctor "Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn't want to get by without you just yet and I don't blame it one bit. There are your patients. All better now."

The old man nodded with a grin "Yes, yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"

"Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks," the Doctor joked "Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?" He turned around to walk back towards his little group " **Are you alright, Rae?** "

She shifted in his grip and looked around in confusion " **What happened?** "

" **Had to knock you out. Sorry, but trust me. It was for the best,** " the Doctor explained " **And look. There's Nancy.** "

" **Nancy?** " Rae repeated, perking up. She remembered the name… It was that girl who offered her food before. Who was the child with her? Was he her son?

The Doctor sat down Rae on her feet, watching carefully as she made her way over to Jamie and Nancy. He clapped his hands "Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget welfare state. Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"Usually the first in line," Rose teased before her grin fell when the Doctor didn't even look at her.

" **Say goodbye to Nancy, Rae. We should get going,** " the Time Lord pointed out. Rae waved to the two humans in front of her shyly and turned to get picked up by the Doctor. She loved being carried… It was comforting to have someone that close to you. As soon as they were back in the Tardis, the Doctor set Rae on the jump seat "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic."

Rose raised an eyebrow "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas."

"Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" the Doctor smirked.

"What?" the blonde blinked.

The Doctor laughed happily "And everybody lives, Rose, Rae. Everybody lives. I need more days like this."

"Doctor…" Rose trailed off.

"Go on," he beamed "Ask me anything. I'm on fire."

The blonde shifted "What about Jack? Why did he say goodbye?"

The Time Lord's smile fell and he sighed "You want me to save him, right?" He pressed a few buttons on the console and gestured to the door "Go on, then."

Rose smiled, opening the doors quietly, watching Jack for a moment. He definitely was good looking… Maybe she could make the Doctor jealous with him? Adam didn't work, so she would have to up her game somewhat "Well, hurry up then," she called to the man outside the doors. Jack ran in, stopping in the doorway.

"Close the door, will you?" the Doctor called from the console "Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught." Jack shut the door at the same time as the Doctor started up the engine "Welcome to the Tardis."

The ex-Time Agent looked around curiously "Much bigger on the inside."

"You'd better be," the Doctor nodded.

Jack ran over to the Time Lord, studying the console. He had never seen a ship like this. It was magnificent… "Oh, hey," he blinked when his gaze fell on the little girl on the jump seat "You're awake."

Rae looked up at Jack in confusion. The only thing she could remember was him walking up with Rose before the Doctor put her to sleep " **Who are you?** "

" **That's Jack,** " the Doctor explained quietly " **He's coming with us for a bit.** "

"What language are you speaking?" the ex-Time Agent questioned "I never heard it before."

The Doctor sighed "You wouldn't have."


	5. Boom Town

The laughter echoing through the Tardis made the Doctor look up with a smile. It had taken quite a while but after a month or so Rae and Jack were as thick as thieves. He had no idea how they managed to do it but somehow the two developed a language they could both understand. It was mostly done through hand signals and pointing but at least they were able to understand each other without the older Time Lord being near them. At first, he had been a little jealous of how close the two of them were but then he realized what Jack meant to Rae. He was like her older brother – her protector and the Doctor honestly didn't mind that. Her heart was big enough to care for both Jack and the older Time Lord equally "What are you two up to?" Both Rae and Jack shot him the same look of innocence, causing him to grin "That look spells trouble."

"No," Rae exclaimed.

The Doctor's head snapped up when he realized that the word was spoken in English "Rae, did you just speak English?"

"Yes?" the girl added with a small glance to Jack.

"What have you been teaching her?" the Doctor questioned, eyes drilling into Jack's skull as he gestured to Rae violently.

The Captain bit his lip "It's just about as much as she manages. Yes and no. Rae can't really pronounce the words right. Why didn't you just imprint the knowledge? I'm sure Time Lords can do that."

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, running a hand through his short cropped hair "Honestly? I didn't want to go into her mind. She has been through too much and a tiny mistake could send her into psychic shock. Risking it would have been extremely dangerous for her. This isn't necessarily better but… What choice do I have?"

Jack bit his lip "But wouldn't it be better to take the risk than to have her struggle with people not being able to understand her?"

"You want me to potentially hurt her? Because I have yet to find a way to imprint English into her mind without hurting her," the Doctor pointed out "I'm working on it… As well as the Tardis but –" He put his hands over Rae's ears "She's been tortured for years. They used mental dampeners on her and they had some side effects as well. Her mind is extremely sensitive right now and it will stay like that for a while… I'm monitoring her to make sure it doesn't do any harm but, you know?"

"Did they really do that much damage?" Jack asked "Rae told me a little but it probably didn't even touch the surface."

The Doctor snorted, looking down at the girl who had started playing with her fingers, looking thoroughly bored with their conversation. She hadn't even tried to remove the Doctor's hands "I can almost guarantee it because she hasn't once told me about it. I was there for some nightmares and I saw the results of the scans. But she hasn't said much about anything."

"What about her family?" Jack questioned.

"I really don't know," the Doctor shook his head "She can't remember much about them. Not even their names."

It was then that Rose entered the room "Hey, what are you doing?"

The Doctor took his hands from Rae's ears, placing them on her shoulders instead "We're in Cardiff right now. And we're most likely going to have to stay for twenty-four hours to…"

"Fuel up the Tardis," Rose nodded, rolling her eyes "I know. You told us that yesterday." She paused for a moment before adding "I called Mickey. He's on his way here."

"Right," the older Time Lord mumbled, looking less than impressed. He wasn't sure whether he wanted more humans around Rae. She was fine with Jack and Rose but the Doctor was somewhat weary about allowing Mickey to be anywhere near her. Not that he was a bad guy or anything… The Time Lord just didn't want to fight Mickey in front of Rae… The problem with this was that he loved messing with the boy and as such, it was sure to happen anyway "Are you sure that's a…?" The Doctor was cut off by a knock on the door.

Jack winked at Rae before making his way towards the door before anyone else was able to do more than blink. He threw it opened, leaning against the doorway "Who the hell are you?" the Captain demanded.

"What do you mean?" Mickey's voice floated inside. The Doctor rolled his eyes, making his way back up the ladder to where he was before Rae surprised him with her English "Who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack shrugged, smirking at the dark-skinned boy "Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."

Mickey growled at the other man, shoving past him "Get out of my way."

Jack closed the door behind him and lifted Rae into his arms, tickling her "Don't tell me," he rolled his eyes "This must be Mickey."

"Here comes trouble," the Doctor called over his shoulder "How're you doing, Ricky boy?"

"It's Mickey," the boy grumbled, glaring up at the Doctor.

Rose latched onto her boyfriend's arm "Don't listen to him, he's winding you up."

Mickey grinned at her "You look fantastic," he told her, drawing her into a big hug.

"Aw, sweet," Jack cooed "Look at these two. How come I never get any of that?"

The Doctor glanced at him "Buy me a drink first."

"You're such hard work," the Captain complained, crossing his arms "Then who do I woo?" His gaze caught Rae who was watching Rose with her boyfriend curiously. She might not like Rose too much or rather the other way around but she had never seen people this close. Not that she remembered.

"Don't even think about it," the Time Lord warned jokingly, seeing the Captain looking at Rae "Although… If you want to get arrested, go right ahead. At least I'd be rid of you then."

Jack gaped up at the Doctor "You're rude," Jack mumbled, crossing his arms with a pout. Rae clambered up the jump seat and threw herself at Jack's back, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Rose rolled her eyes at the other three time travellers and turned back to Mickey "Did you manage to find it?"

Mickey looked at Rose and patted his jacket "There you go." He handed over a passport.

"I can go anywhere now," Rose grinned, waving her passport at the Doctor.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow "I told you, you don't need a passport."

"It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything."

Mickey's smile fell "Sounds like you're staying, then. So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash and the little girl over there? I mean, I don't mind you handing out with big-ears up there…"

"Oi," the Doctor huffed.

"Look in the mirror," the dark-skinned boy shot back "But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of…"

Jack tilted his head "Handsome?"

"More like cheesy," Mickey shook his head.

"Early twenty-first Century slang… Is cheesy good or bad?" Jack questioned.

Mickey looked at him seriously "It's bad."

"But bad means good, isn't that right?" the Captain continued.

Rae shook her head "No," she exclaimed. When everyone looked at her, the Doctor and Mickey in amusement and Jack in fake annoyance, her expression changed "Yes?"

The Doctor moved from the ladder, taking off the blinking red light. He glanced down at it and groaned internally. Well, at least now he knew why he didn't see anything up there. The Time Lord ruffled Astraea's hair and looked at Mickey "Mickey, meet Astraea. **Rae, this is Mickey. Rose's boyfriend and an idiot.** "

"What did you just say?" Mickey questioned curiously.

Rose grabbed his arm "Astraea is from the Doctor's planet."

"But you said they were all dead?" Mickey blinked "That's what you said, right?"

Rae's head lowered at the reminder. The Doctor wrapped his arms around the Time Tot, glaring at the two across from him "You don't know anything, Ricky. Nothing. Do you understand me?"

" **It's alright,** " Rae mumbled " **It's not his fault.** "

" **You're right,** " the Time Lord agreed " **It's Rose's fault. She had no right telling him anything.** "

The Time Tot looked up at him " **But he's important to her, yes?** " the little girl questioned, her head tilted to the side.

" **What does that have to do with anything?** "

" **You told me about Rose's mother as well even if I haven't met her,** " Rae told him matter-of-factly.

The Doctor blinked down at the little girl that just about reached his stomach " **When did you get this wise? You sound like me and I have quite a few centuries on you.** "

Jack waved his hand in front of the Doctor's face "Er, Doc? We're still here… And we can't understand a thing."

"Oh, right," the older Time Lord sighed " **I forgot the infinite curiosity of the human race,** " he whispered to Rae who giggled.

"Okay, I think that was an insult," the Captain mumbled to himself, leaning against the console behind him. In the few months, he had already travelled with the Doctor, he had gotten to know him quite well and even if the Time Lord seemed like a grump, he was actually very cool to be around and he didn't mind teaching Jack how to handle to the Tardis. At first, Jack noticed that the Doctor hadn't been his biggest fan but after a while, he calmed down and occasionally liked to spend time with both Rae and him.

Mickey looked at all the time travellers "Why are you in Cardiff anyway?"

"We just stopped off," Rose shrugged "We need to refuel. The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"The rift was healed back in 1869," the Doctor continued.

Rose took back over "Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it."

Jack looked at the other two "But closing a rift always leaves a scar and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race."

"But perfect for the Tardis," the Time Lord continued "So just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and…"

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation…"

"Like filling her up with petrol and off we go."

Jack laughed "Into time."

"And space," the three adult time travellers finished.

Mickey shook his head at them "My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?" He glanced down at Rae who had been watching the exchange as if she had been watching a tennis match "They are really full of themselves, aren't they?"

The Time Tot nodded vigorously " **Yes.** "

"What…?"

"She doesn't speak English," Jack told the dark-skinned boy "The Tardis made it possible for her to understand English but she can't do it the other way around."

Mickey crossed his arms "You're talking about a machine like it's alive." He shook his head "Why am I even surprised?"

Rae tugged at the Doctor's sleeve, waiting for the older Time Lord to look down at her. As her nervousness about meeting the new person settled, another feeling rose to the top and her stomach growled " **Theta? I'm hungry.** "

"Let's go out and eat," the Doctor shrugged, looking around at the others. He held his hand out to Rae but sighed when she lifted her arms with a pout instead " **I'm spoiling you too much.** "

"Whipped," Jack coughed in amusement, seeing the Doctor fall for Rae's puppy eyes. Not that he was immune or anything but it was still nice to see the Time Lord acting this soft around the child.

The Doctor carried Rae out of the doors, glancing around the Plass "Should take another twenty-four hours, which means we've got time to kill."

"That old lady's staring," Mickey pointed out uncomfortably.

Jack grinned, slapping the younger boy's back "Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box with a child."

"What are you captain of?" Rose's boyfriend demanded with an eye-roll "The Innuendo Squad?" Jack made a 'Whatever' gesture before starting to walk away, the others following "Wait," Mickey called out "The Tardis. We can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed "What's with the police box? Why does it look like that?"

Rose leaned her back against the wood with a huge smile "It's a cloaking device."

"It's called a chameleon circuit," the Time Lord pointed out, adjusting his grip on Rae who was resting her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed "The Tardis is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something." He paused, admiring the design of his spaceship for a second, remembering back to when he was travelling with Susan "But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box and the circuit got stuck."

"So it copied a real thing?" Mickey questioned, his head tilted in confusion "There actually was police boxes?"

The older Time Lord nodded "Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell."

Jack raised his eyebrow "Why don't you just fix the circuit?"

"I like it," the Doctor shrugged with a huge smile "Don't you?"

Rose leaned herself against the Time Lord's side that he wasn't holding Rae on, shooting the little girl a quick glare "I love it."

"But that's what I meant," Mickey pointed out "There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?"

The Doctor sighed, stopping once again "Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued "Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore."

Rose quickly caught up with him "What's the plan?"

"Well, getting food for one," the Time Lord shrugged "After that? I don't know. Cardiff, early twenty-first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe."

A little later, the group of five was sitting in a small restaurant by the Bay. Rae had scrambled onto Jack's lap as soon as the man sat down and was now happily munching on some breakfast while the others around her talked. Well, Jack talked and very loudly at that "I swear," he laughed "Six feet tall and with big tusks."

"You're lying through your teeth," the Doctor shook his head.

Rose snorted "I'd have gone bonkers. That's the word… Bonkers."

The Captain grinned at his captivated audience, stealing a little piece of pancake from Rae's plate. The Time Tot huffed at him circling her plate with her left arm protectively "I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks. And it's woken and it's not happy."

"How could you not know it was there?" the Time Lord blinked, reaching forward to try and get something from Rae's plate as well. This time she was prepared though and swatted at his hand, causing him to pout and Jack to grin some more.

"And we're standing there, fifteen of us… Naked," Jack said.

Rose gaped "Naked?!"

The Captain held up his hand "And I'm like, oh, no, no. It's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars and we are running." Rae jostled on his lap and looked up at him and then to the Doctor. Jack had told her a lot of his stories before – the ones that were more or less kid friendly even if he knew that Rae was a lot older than she looked. It didn't mean that she wasn't still a child "Oh my God, we are running. And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and say…"

"I knew we should've turned left," Mickey finished, causing the whole group to laugh.

Jack pointed to Mickey "That's my line."

"I don't believe you," the blonde mumbled, shaking her head "I don't believe a word you say ever." Then she laughed lightly "That is so brilliant. Did you ever get your clothes back?"

Jack was about to answer when the Doctor got up from his chair, snatching a newspaper from an older man across the restaurant. His eyes quickly scanned it "And I was having such a nice day," he sighed holding up the front page for the others to see.

"Hold on," Rose blinked, leaning forward to squint at the picture "That's Margaret the Slitheen, right?"

The Doctor nodded seriously as Mickey paled "I thought we blew them up?"

"Apparently not all of them," the Time Lord muttered grimly "So, fancy catching ourselves a Slitheen?"

Jack tilted his head "What's a Slitheen?"

"They're a family from Raxacoricofallapatorious," the Doctor explained "I'm sure you know of that planet?"

The Captain grimaced and nodded "Yes. Not a very pleasant species most of the time."

"Come on, then," the Time Lord clapped "Let's pay a visit to an old friend." He lead the way to the City Hall.

As soon as the group entered, Jack took the stage "According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty-seven fifty-six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face. That'll designate Exit One, I'll cover Exit Two. Rose, you Exit Three. Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrow "Excuse me. Who's in charge?"

"Sorry," Jack rolled his eyes "Awaiting orders, sir."

"Right," the Time Lord clapped his hands "Here's the plan." He paused for a moment "As he said. Nice plan. I'll take Rae with me. But other than that… Anything else?"

"Present arms," Jack said, pulling out his phone.

Each of them – except for Rae – pulled out their phones "Ready," they chorused.

Jack looked up "Speed dial?"

"Yup," the Doctor nodded.

Rose glanced at the screen "Ready."

"Check," Mickey finished off.

"See you in hell."

With that, the group took off in different directions. Around halfway up the stairs, the Doctor picked up Rae, holding her close " **You better be quiet in there, alright? I don't want her to find out exactly who or what you are.** "

" **Is she like the bad man?** " Rae questioned, laying down her head on his shoulder again.

The Doctor bit his lip " **I don't know. But I'm not going to take a chance with this, alright?** "

" **Okay,** " the Time Tot nodded, wrapping her small arms around the Doctor's neck.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted the young man sitting at a desk by the door that lead to the Mayor's office "I've come to see the Lord Mayor."

The man looked up "Have you got an appointment?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head "Just an old friend passing by." He leaned forward, lowering his voice "Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face."

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea," Idris – the aide replied, sounding unsure.

The Doctor sighed "Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her."

"Doctor Who?" the young man frowned.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes "Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor."

Idris sighed and got up from his desk "Hang on a tick." He went into the Lord Mayor's office. There was a minute of silence before the two Gallifreyans could hear a tea cup smash before Idris walked back out "The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to chat but, er, she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?"

"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" the Doctor asked with a mildly amused smile.

"Yes," the young man nodded "She is."

The Time Lord pushed past him, setting Rae down on her feet. He kept a hold of her hand, pulling her along to the balcony "Slitheen heading north," he mumbled into his phone.

Idris pushed the Doctor against the railing of the balcony as Margaret climbed down a ladder that was conveniently placed on the edge of the platform "Leave the Mayor alone."

Rae freed herself from the Doctor's grasp, slipping past the two wrestling men. She slipped through the gap in the railing, mindful of how high she was standing. Just as she started going down, Margaret reached the bottom of the ladder. The Slitheen took off her brooch, running in one direction. As soon as she saw Rose coming towards her, she snarled and turned into the other direction. She pushed Rae to the side as the Time Tot reached the ground as she was trying to move past. Jack helped Rae to her feet before taking off after the Slitheen "Margaret," the Doctor called out, getting down the ladder. He ran after the others.

"Who's on Exit Four?" Jack demanded, barely out of breath.

"That was Mickey," Rose pointed out.

Mickey ran into them, panting harshly "Here I am."

"Mickey the Idiot," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

Rose crossed her arms, nodding her head towards the Slitheen "Oh, be fair. She's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?"

Just as the blonde finished speaking, the Mayor of Cardiff vanished "She's got a teleport," Jack exclaimed "That's cheating. Now we're never going to get her."

"Oh, the Doctor's very good at teleports," Rose smirked.

The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver as Jack picked up Rae who had been leaning onto his legs. Margaret reappeared, running towards them. She froze before whirling around, vanishing again. This repeated a few more times "I could do this all day," the Doctor called out, looking at the panting Slitheen challengingly.

"This is persecution," Margaret spat, leaning forward with her hands on her knees "Why can't you just leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrow "You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet."

"Apart from that," she huffed, following the Doctor back inside the City Hall.

Inside, the Doctor turned around to her, crossing his arms "So you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family gets killed but you teleported out just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"

"A philanthropic gesture," the Slitheen shrugged "I've learned the error of my ways."

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift," the Time Lord snorted, obviously not believing a word she was saying.

Margaret tilted her head innocently "What rift would that be?"

"A rift in time and space," Jack pointed out, turning away from Rae. He had been shielding her with his body since they entered the room. From the look the Doctor had shot him, neither of the two men trusted the Slitheen anywhere near Rae "If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go boom." He made an exaggerated gesture with his hands.

The Doctor studied the model closely "This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches full capacity."

"Didn't anyone notice?" Rose frowned "Isn't there anyone in London checking this sort of stuff?"

Margaret scoffed "We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice." She stopped and grimaced "Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."

"But why would she do that?" Mickey frowned, staring at everything but the woman in the skin suit "A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself."

"She's got a name, you know," Margaret rolled her eyes.

Mickey stared at her "She's not even a she, she's a thing."

"Oh, but she's clever," the Doctor breathed, his eyes taking in the model again. He shot forward, quickly pulling the middle section out of the model. The Time Lord turned it over to reveal electronics "Fantastic."

Jack blinked at the device in surprise, moving forward curiously "Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?"

The Doctor looked up in shock "Couldn't have put it better myself."

"Oh, genius," Jack continued "You didn't build this."

"I have my hobbies," Margaret shrugged, her eyes falling onto the girl she had pushed to the side earlier. The Slitheen was a little confused. She didn't take the Doctor for someone who was dragging around little children "A little tinkering."

The Captain shook his head "No, no, no. I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you."

"I bet she stole it," Mickey exclaimed.

"It fell into my hands," the Slitheen mumbled, her eyes still glued to the little girl.

It was then that the Doctor noticed where Margaret's attention was, so he quickly stepped over, scooping Rae up into his arms " **Stay as far away from her as you can, Rae,** " he whispered into her ear " **I don't trust her.** "

" **Okay,** " Rae nodded, turning her head to watch the happenings in the room again. She noticed the gaze of the Slitheen on her still. The Time Tot bit her lip twisting her hands into the Doctor's leather jacket.

Rose looked at the thing in Jack's hands "Is it a weapon?"

"It's transport," Jack explained "You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a forcefield." He stepped onto the board with one foot, gesturing in a circle around himself "You have this energy bubble, so you're safe. Then you feed it the coordinates, stand on top and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."

Mickey grinned "It's a surfboard."

"A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah," the Captain nodded.

"And it would've worked," Margret huffed, finally averting her eyes from the child in the Doctor's arms "I'd have surfed away from this dead end dump and back to civilisation."

Mickey stared at her in disgust "You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?"

"Like stepping on an anthill," she smirked.

The Doctor meanwhile caught sight of a banner that was hanging up on the far wall "How'd you think of the name?"

"What?" Margret blinked, turning around to look at what he was looking "Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh."

"I know," the Doctor shot back "But how did you think of it?"

The Slitheen shrugged "I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It sounded good. Does it matter?"

"Blaidd Drwg…" the Time Lord mumbled.

Rose stepped forward "What does it mean?"

"Bad Wolf," the Doctor translated absent-mindedly.

"But I've heard that before," the blonde exclaimed "I heard that lots of times."

The Time Lord hummed "Everywhere we go. Two words following us. Bad Wolf."

"How can they be following us?" Rose breathed.

The Doctor paused for a moment before he shook his head with a grin "Nah, just a coincidence." Rose relaxed, glaring at the Time Lord lightly "Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind. Things to do. Margret, we're going to take you home."

"Hold on," Jack huffed "Isn't that the easy version, like letting her go?"

Rose's face lit up "I don't believe it. We actually get to go to Raxa…" The Doctor rolled his eyes at her "Wait a minute. Raxacor…"

"Raxacoricofallapatorious," the Doctor finished.

The blonde furrowed her brows in concentration "Raxacorico…"

"Fallapatorious."

"Raxacoricofallapatorious," Rose said slowly "That's it." She threw herself at the Doctor, almost making him drop Rae in the process. The Time Lord shook her off, with a small glare.

Margaret had been watching them for a while "They have the death penalty," she told them "The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death."

The Doctor looked at her darkly "Not my problem."

On the way back to the Tardis, Jack had stoled Rae from the Doctor, carrying the now half-asleep girl back. Margaret gasped when she stepped into the Tardis "This ship is impossible. It's superb. How did you get the outside around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah," he shot back, walking over to the console, away from the Slitheen.

"I almost feel better about being defeated," the Slitheen marvelled "I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the Gods."

The Doctor shook his head, running his hand through Rae's hair, making her smile up at him sleepily "Don't worship me. I'd make a very bad God. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

Jack looked down at the board in his hands "This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, I don't know," the Slitheen shrugged, not really interested in t he conversation anymore. She was once again staring at the girl. There was something off with her. All the time she spent on Earth and around children, they were constantly chattering. This one hadn't said a word yet. None at all "Some airlock sale?"

"Must have been a great big heist," Jack mocked "It's stacked with power."

The Doctor leaned over the Captain "But we can use it for fuel?"

"It's not compatible," Jack shook his head "But it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning."

"Then we're stuck here overnight," the Time Lord sighed.

Jack leaned back a little, looking over at the Time Tot "I could use your help here, Rae. Do you mind?"

"No," Rae mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. She slid from the jump seat and knelt down next to Jack, continuing to rub her eyes.

Margaret sat down on the seat Rae had just vacated "I'm in no hurry."

"We've got a prisoner," Rose realized, pointing at the Slitheen "The police box is really a police box."

The alien scoffed "You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you. Even the little executioner over there."

"Well, you deserve it," Mickey bit out.

"You're very quick to say so," Margaret pointed out "You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly? Long night ahead." She looked at them smugly "Let's see who can look me in the eye." Everyone she looked at looked away and Rae didn't even look up at her.

The girl was focussed on some of cables that Jack had handed her. They weren't connected to anything but Jack was quietly telling her what to do to make them work "No," Jack grabbed her hand in his "This is going there and this here."

"Oh," Rae nodded, fixing it quickly.

Jack looked up at the Doctor who was looking at the screen, watching Rose and Mickey walk around outside "So, what's on?"

"Nothing," the Doctor shook his head "Just… Nothing."

Margaret looked over her shoulder "I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last, you have consequences. How does it feel?"

"I didn't butcher them," the Doctor told her, clenching his teeth.

"Don't answer back," Jack told him "That's what she wants."

The Time Lord shook his head "I didn't. What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

"It only carries one," the Slitheen huffed "I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs." The Doctor snorted, causing Jack to grin too "It wasn't funny."

"Sorry," the Doctor smirked "It's a bit funny."

Margaret bit her lip, trying to look as innocent and as… redeemed as possible "Do I get a last request?"

"Depends."

"I grew quite fond of my little human life," she said "All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just around the Bay. It became quite a favourite of mine."

The Time Lord raised his eyebrows in disbelief "Is that what you want, a last meal?"

"It's not like I can escape," the Slitheen pointed out "So where's the danger? I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"

The Doctor looked at Rae and Jack before turning back "Strong enough."

"I wonder," she murmured "I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them."

"You won't change my mind," the Doctor told her.

Margaret leaned forward "Prove it."

"There are people out there," the Time Lord pointed "If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger."

Jack jumped up from his place on the grating "Except I've got these." He held up two bangles "You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away, she gets zapped by ten thousand volts."

The Doctor slipped one on his wrist, holding out the other to the Slitheen "Would you like to come out to dinner? My treat."

"Dinner in bondage," Margaret smiled nervously "Works for me."

"You two, finish this, alright? I'll be back soon," the Doctor pointed at them before pressing a kiss to Rae's head " **Be good for Jack.** "

" **Me?** " Rae widened her eyes comically, pointing to herself.

The Time Lord grinned, ruffling her hair " **Behave.** "

Jack kept on working on mending the Tardis, connecting it to the extrapolator over the next hour. Sometime during that time, Rae's yawning got out of hand and she curled up with her head in Jack's lap "Tired?" he asked her, glancing down a little later. He had to smile softly when he saw that Rae was already asleep. The Captain looked at the almost finished project in front of him before glancing back at the child. He sighed, going back to work.

As soon as he was done, he carefully got up, scooping Rae up. After the months on board, he knew her room almost as well as his own. Rae had the habit of not letting go of him or the Doctor because she still got nightmares – or rather her memories were overwhelming her whenever she went to sleep, so one of the men tended to stay with her until she fell asleep.


	6. Bad Wolf

The Doctor was whirling around the tiny room he had appeared in in confusion "What is it?" he asked "What's happening?" He leaned against one of the walls and fell out of the cupboard.

"Oh, my God," one of the girl cried out in surprise "I don't believe it. Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." She glanced past him and gasped, seeing a little girl huddled into the corner of the cupboard with wide, frightened eyes "Hello, sweetheart. What are you doing here?"

"What happened?" the Time Lord demanded, trying to shake off the fuzziness of the transmat "I was…" His head snapped around when a faint whimper reached his ears "Rae," he breathed, stumbling towards the little girl who had her eyes clenched shut, shaking her head. The Doctor was a little confused but shrugged it off as the same confusion he was feeling " **Shh. It's alright, Rae. I'm here.** "

Lynda tilted her head in confusion at the sudden change in language "Alright? What're your names, then?"

The Doctor got up somewhat unsteadily, being careful of Rae who was clinging to his neck with a death grip "The Doctor, I think… I was, er… I don't know what happened? How…"

"You got chosen," the young woman pointed out.

"Chosen for what?" the Time Lord asked warily.

Lynda smiled happily, even if she was still somewhat confused at the presence of the child. She thought that there were rules against children on these programs. Scratch that, she was sure that there was an age limit and the girl seemed to be under it by more than ten years "You're a housemate. You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?"

Over by a very pink screen that made the Doctor grimace inwardly, a young man huffed in annoyance "That's not fair," he exclaimed "We've got eviction in five minutes. I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning and then he comes swanning in. And what is with that child?"

The dark-skinned woman next to him shook her head "If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls."

" _Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?_ " A door to the side lit up, causing the Doctor to step towards it hesitatingly. He had no idea what was going on and the last thing he wanted was to place Rae in any kind of danger.

The Doctor set Rae down, crouching in front of her " **I'm just going to go in there real quick,** " he told her quietly " **Wait for me here, alright?** "

" **Don't go?** " Rae asked, looking up at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

The Time Lord bit his lip nervously, glancing to the three humans " **Alright,** " he sighed, picking the Time Tot back up. He walked through the door, sitting down on a huge, somewhat comfy chair with Rae on his lap. The little girl turned immediately, hiding herself in his jacket as much as it was possible.

" _You are live on channel forty-four thousand. Please do not swear._ "

"You have got to be kidding," the Doctor pressed out, staring at the camera in annoyance. It was only just dawning on him what was going on around him and he was less than impressed. Actually, he still didn't quite get what was going on but at least he was a step closer? The only question apart from how to get out of there was… Where were Rose and Jack? If they weren't here then where?

A little while later, the Doctor was checking his surroundings with the sonic, glaring at the door "I can't open it."

"It's got a deadlock seal," Lynda pointed out, skirting around the child who was glaring at her. Not that she was scary but there was something about her. The young woman didn't want to make Rae anymore uncomfortable than she already was. Judging by how she reacted earlier, she had a hard life "Ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that?"

The Time Lord moved over to the huge window front, gently nudging Rae out of his way and closer to the wall "What about this?"

"Oh, that's exoglass," Lynda explained "You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."

"Don't tempt me," the Doctor joked.

The young woman bit her lip, stepping a little closer to the man "I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a 'y', not Linda with an 'i'. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?"

The Doctor looked at her for a moment "I don't remember," he told her, trying to get her to drop the subject.

"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing?" Lynda's face fell "Some people get this far because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"

"No, you're – you're nice," the Doctor back-pedalled, ignoring Rae's quiet snickering. The Time Tot didn't like the two people staring at them from the couch but the other woman – Lynda was quite nice. Also, she had seen the Doctor getting himself into trouble time and time again and it was always fun to watch him make a fool out himself "You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."

Lynda smiled shyly "Oh, is that right? Is that what I am?" She winked at Rae who was looking at her curiously. The young woman was glad that the girl didn't seem quite as scared as she had before "Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"

"Yeah," the Doctor hummed, already back to focussing on a way out "Dead sweet."

"Thank you."

The Time Lord frowned at one of the sides of the room "It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?"

Lynda snorted "Don't be daft," she shook her head "No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden?" She froze and stared at the curious man with wide eyes "Don't tell me you've got a garden."

"No," the Doctor shook his head "I've just got the Tardis. I remember."

"That's the amnesia," Lynda nodded in understanding "So what happened? Where did they get you?"

The Time Lord frowned thoughtfully, his brain already piecing the events together "We'd just left Raxacoricofallapatorious. Then we went to Kyoto." He nodded "That's right, Japan in 1336 and we only just escaped. Then Rae fell into a river…"

Rae started giggling a little " **Jack pushed me.** "

" **And then you pulled him in with you,** " the older Time Lord shot back " **Really, he should have been the adult. Then again… He's Jack.** "

"What language is that?" Lynda asked, once again enthralled by the melodious sounds of the strange language the two were speaking.

The Doctor's head turned to her and he blinked, shaking himself internally "Oh, you wouldn't know it. Anyway, we were together in the Tardis, we were laughing and then there was this light… This white light coming through the walls and then… And then I woke up here."

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam," Lynda nodded in agreement "That's how they pick the housemates."

"Oh, Lynda with a 'Y'," the Time Lord sighed "Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat beam gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful which means this isn't just a game." He reached for Rae who shuffled even closer to him when he had started his explanation and swung her into his arms again "There is something on." The Doctor's gaze turned to one of the cameras "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. We're getting out. I'm going to find my friends and then I'm going to find you."

With that said, he once again went to look at the walls, doorways and windows. There had to be a way to get out. Some way to escape and find the others. Nothing was secure enough to stop him… Rae was clinging to his back, her head resting on his shoulder as her eyes kept drifting shut occasionally before she shot up again " **Are you alright there?** " the Doctor asked after a while, amusement swinging in his voice.

" **Hm,** " Rae mumbled, twitching involuntarily " **When can we go home?** "

" **Working on it, Astraea,** " the Time Lord sighed.

"Doctor," Lynda called from the couch a few minutes later "They said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to."

The Doctor groaned lightly "I'm busy getting out, thanks."

Lynda looked over at him, worry in her eyes "But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished."

"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then," the Doctor shrugged.

"How stupid are you?" Strood snapped "You've only just joined, you're not eligible."

"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck," Lynda pointed out "I'm sure that you don't want Rae punished too? We might not know why she's here with you but she's here."

The Time Lord gritted his teeth "Fine." He slinked over to the sofa, throwing himself down, Rae now on his lap instead of his back. The little girl curled up tightly at the closeness she had to the other two humans apart from Lynda. The Doctor blinked when one of the Tot's arms shot up, swatting at something – that to him appeared to be thin air – in annoyance.

" _Big Brother House, this is Davina Droid. Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is…_ " There was a long pause, causing the humans to exchanged uneasy glances " _Crosbie._ "

The Doctor leaned back on the sofa, playing with the Time Tot's hair. It had gotten longer over the past months and now reached her lower back. He was sure that if the Tardis – or Jack on occasion – didn't put up her hair or braid it, it would be constantly tangled. Personally, he was hopeless in most things to do with hair. Maybe once upon a time but… That hadn't been for the longest time.

"I'm sorry," Lynda gasped, raising her hand to her mouth "Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry."

"Oh, it should have been me," Strood shook his head "Oh, that's not fair." He got up, holding out his arms "Crosbie, love."

" _Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells and then we're going to get you,_ " the Droid explained.

Lynda sniffled as the three humans made their way to the door "I won't forget you."

Crosbie was sobbing "I'm sorry I stole your soap."

"I don't mind," the young woman shook her head "Honestly."

"Thanks for the food. You're a smashing cook," Strood murmured "Bless you."

" _Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House._ " A door to a short corridor opened with a second door at the far end."

Crosbie took one more look around "Bye, then. Bye, Lynda."

"Bye." Lynda and Strood made an arch with their hands and Crosbie walked through "I don't believe it," Lynda shook her head "Crosbie."

The Doctor rolled his eyes "It's only a game show. She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. She'll be laughing."

He was on the receiving end of a puzzled look "What do you mean, on the outside?"

"Here we go," Strood exclaimed, hurrying over to the sofa to watch Crosbie on the screen.

The Doctor frowned when the proceedings seemed to take longer than necessary "What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?"

"Stop," Lynda hissed, glaring at the man. She couldn't believe that he was this insensitive "It's not funny."

" _Eviction in five, four, three, two, one._ " A beam shot from the ceiling and hit Crosbie. After only a few moments, she vanished in a puff of smoke, causing the Doctor to shoot up from his position, almost throwing the Time Tot from his lap. Rae, on the other hand, was staring at the screen with wide eyes.

"What was that?"

Strood licked his lips "Disintegrator beam."

"She's been evicted," Lynda explained when it seemed like the man still didn't quite understand "From life."

The Time Lord shook his head at them "Are you insane?" he demanded, clutching at Rae like she would get disintegrated any second "You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?"

"You're talking like we've got a choice," Lynda muttered.

"But… I thought you had to apply," the Doctor pointed out. At least he was very sure that it worked that way.

Strood rolled his eyes with a scoff "Don't be so stupid. That's how they played it centuries back."

"You get chosen whether you like it or not," the young woman said "Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's non-stop. There are sixty Big Brother Houses running all at once."

The Doctor gaped at her "How many? Sixty?"

"They've had to cut back," Strood pointed out, his tone for the first time not condescending "It's not what it was."

"It's a charnel house," the Time Lord breathed "What about the winners? What do they get?"

Lynda shrugged "They get to live."

"Is that it?"

"Isn't that enough?"

The Doctor ran a hand over his head "Rose and Jack are out there. They got caught in the transmat as well… They're contestants. **Time we got out of here, Rae,** " he muttered before an idea sparked in his mind "That other contestant… Er – Linda with an 'I'. She was forcibly evicted for what?"

"Damage of property," Lynda answered immediately, not understanding the relevance of the question at all. He couldn't seriously be planning to…

"What?" the Doctor challenged, raising his screwdriver "Like this?" One of the cameras sparked and smoked lightly.

Almost as soon as he lowered his arm, the voice of the Droid came through the speaker " _The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells and then we're going to get you._ "

"That's more like it," he laughed, jumping up before waiting in front of the door impatiently "Come on, then. Open up."

Lynda stared at him "You're mad," she exclaimed "And what about the girl? Are you going to not only get yourself killed but her as well?"

" **Rae?** " the Doctor asked, looking down " **This could turn out badly. I want you to stay with Lynda until it's clear, alright?** "

" **No,** " the Time Tot cried out " **No. I don't want you to leave me again.** "

" **I'm not leaving you,** " the Doctor reassured, kneeling down in front of the child " **Think. Use that** **clever** **, little brain of yours.** " Rae wrinkled her forehead, trying to piece together what the Doctor wanted her to piece together but it was evading her. While she was lost in thoughts, the Time Lord stood up and almost ran in when the door opened in front of him. The fast this was over, the better "Come on then, disintegrate me," he called up to the ceiling "Come on, what're you waiting for?"

Lynda was watching the screen from the door. Her gaze trailed to the young child standing next to her. She looked incredibly cute the was her nose was scrunched up along with her forehead. It reminded her of her cousins when they tried to act all serious "He is… He's mad," she breathed, shaking her head "He's absolutely bonkers."

"Disintegrate me," the Doctor shouted "What are you waiting for?"

" _Eviction in five, four, three, two, one…_ " The machine shut down and at the same time Rae's face lit up in realization. Of course… They hadn't come here by accident. Someone had brought them here and wanted them in the games. There was no way they would be getting killed with something so interested in them.

The Time Lord let out a laugh that was part relief and part triumphant "Ah, ha. I knew it. You see, someone brought us into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano. They want me alive." He looked up at the camera again "Maybe security isn't as tight this end. Are you following this? I'm getting out." The Doctor opened the white door, catching his Tot when she hurled herself into his arms. He looked over at Lynda "Come with me."

"We're not allowed," Strood pointed out.

The Doctor snorted "Stay in there, you've got a fifty-fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on."

Lynda shook her head "No, I can't… I can't."

"Lynda," the Time Lord started, looking her right in the eye "You're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?" He held out his hand, waiting for Lynda to take it. She did a moment later and the three ran out together, leaving Strood behind as the doors closed again.

The Doctor froze just outside the doors, looking around "Hold on," he muttered "I've been here before. This is Satellite Five." He glanced around and shrugged "No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth." He opened another door and walked through.

Lynda hurried after the two Gallifreyans "No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years."

"A hundred years exactly," the Doctor nodded "It's the year two zero zero one zero zero. I was here before. Floor one three nine. The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for Rae to wake up from her Sleeping Beauty nap."

" **Aurora,** " Rae clapped. The Tardis had been playing tons of Disney movies one after the other in the entertainment centre, much to the annoyance of both Rose and to some extent, the older Time Lord. He understood that Rae was a bit young for some of the stuff he wanted to watch. That didn't mean he wanted to watch Frozen more than once. Tangled was pretty fun, though. He wouldn't admit it to anyone… ever… but his favourite Disney movie was Wall-E. It might be Disney Pixar but it still counted in his mind.

Lynda looked from one to the other "A hundred years ago? What, you two were here a hundred years ago?"

"I was. Rae was in the Tardis," the Doctor nodded.

"You're looking good on it," the young woman commended with wide eyes.

The Doctor shot her a small smirk "I moisturise." He turned around and went to work on a small computer screen "Funny sorts of readings," he mumbled "All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?"

"I don't know," Lynda shrugged "I think we're the first-ever contestants to get outside."

The Doctor hummed absentmindedly "I had two friends travelling with me. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?"

"I don't know," the young woman repeated "They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."

"Like… what?" the Time Lord questioned warily.

Lynda scratched her head "Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's non-stop. There's Call My Bluff with real guns. Countdown where you got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force which is a nasty one. You get turned into compost. Er… Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."

"And you watch that stuff?" the Time Lord blinked, looking up from the screen.

Lynda nodded "Everyone does. How come you don't?"

"Never paid for my licence," the Doctor grinned.

"Oh, my God," the young woman gasped "You get executed for that."

The Doctor huffed out a laugh "Let them try."

"You keep saying things that don't make sense," Lynda pointed out, sitting down close to where Rae was skipping over the tiles on the floor. The child seemed to be more than bored with the whole situation. Thinking about it, she hadn't heard the girl speak English. Only that musical language the two of them spoke "Who are you though, Doctor, really? And… Rae – She doesn't speak English? Where are you from?"

The Doctor shook his head and shot her a dark look "It doesn't matter."

"Well, it does to me," the young woman exclaimed "I've just put my life in your hands."

"I'm just a traveller," the Doctor sighed "Wandering past. Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life for Rae and me with our friends."

Lynda looked at him in consideration "So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do? Just wander off again?"

"Fast as I can," the Time Lord agreed.

"So, I could come with you?" Lynda asked, looking at the man hopefully. She liked being around him and Rae seemed like a good kid that she would love to get to know better. Maybe she would also be able to help the girl with English. It might be hard if Lynda wasn't able to understand what Rae was saying but she was sure that there was a way.

The Doctor smiled at her. He really did like the young woman. Actually, he wouldn't have asked her to come along with him earlier "Maybe you could."

"I wouldn't get in the way," Lynda assured quickly "And I'm sure Rae and I would get along great." She raised her hand to the girl who tilted her head at her for a moment before slapping her hand in the older woman's.

One of the first things Jack had insisted on teaching the Time Tot was how to give high fives. The Doctor had seen the first few failed attempts before he took pity on the other man and explained the system to Rae. After that, the two were constantly high-fiving each other. Maybe he made a mistake but then he remembered that he liked Jack now. The younger man was good with Rae and he had more than made up for his mistake in the 1940s "I wouldn't mind if you did," the Doctor told Lynda "Not a bad idea, actually. Lynda with a 'Y'. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?"

"Hold on," Lynda exclaimed, running off towards one of the walls. She turned on the light, making a sign light up "Your Lords and Masters." She gestured to the 'Bad Wolf Corporation' logo high up on the wall.

The Doctor hurried over to the door near Lynda and stepped through to an observation deck that looked similar to when he had last been here. Now, where was… Ah, over there. Now he only had to find the others and the Tardis before they could finally get out of here. He glanced over to the young woman for a moment before turning his attention back to the computer console.

"Blimey," Lynda gasped "I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit." She stared out of the window with a smile "Planet Earth."

The Time Lord looked out as well, only now noticing that there was something very wrong with the planet below "What's happened to it?"

"Well," Lynda shrugged "It's always been like that ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breath outside."

"So the population just sits there?" the Doctor blinked "Half the world's too far and half the world's too thin and you lot just watch telly?"

Rae pressed herself closer to the window, her hand lying on the glass " **Wrong,** " she whispered " **This is wrong.** "

"I know," the Doctor nodded "It's all gone wrong. I mean, history's wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time I was here, I put it right."

Lynda looked over at him and shook her head "No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels… They just shut down overnight."

"But that was me," the Doctor breathed "I did that."

"There was nothing left in their place," Lynda explained quietly, watching as the man's expression crumbled. Almost immediately, the child turned her head and hurried over to the Doctor. It was incredibly cute how the man crouched down, wrapping his arms around the girl. The image made her wonder what happened. While the Doctor was acting like her father, he sometimes seemed to forget the world around them when they started talking in the other language. Like he got lost in memories and hadn't spoken the language in quite some time. And Rae – she seemed so… frightened somehow. Something happened to her not too long ago. Actually, it made her attachment to the Doctor somewhat clearer. Lynda wasn't stupid. Far from it. She was a lot more observant than she had let on "No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."

The Doctor swallowed "Oh, my… I made this world."

Rae shivered, clenching her eyes shut tightly " **Wrong, wrong, wrong. Time is all wrong.** "

" **Rae, Rae, breathe,** " the Doctor called out when the girl started breathing more heavily. He had never seen a reaction quite this bad. Especially since this was a bit less severe than when Rose had saved her father. It might be because Rae was feeling better now but… This was still different " **Rae!** " The Time Tot shook her head, swatting at the air as if something was in front of her face " **Astraea. Can you look at me? Come on, look at me.** "

"What's happening?" Lynda asked as the girl started hitting at the Doctor and thin air.

The Time Lord narrowly avoided one of the small fists and carefully held Rae down " **Shh,** " he murmured " **It's alright.** "

"What's going on?" Jack called out from the door, running over to the two Gallifreyans "What happened?"

"I don't know," the Doctor shook his head "Damn, I wish I had the Tardis now. This is far from normal."

The Captain reached out to touch the young girl's head, titling his head at her mumbling "What is she saying?"

"'It's wrong.'," the Time Lord translated "She's just repeating that it's wrong."

"What's wrong, though?"

"This," the Doctor gestured around "Everything. Time is wrong. I think she is a lot more sensitive than I thought. It's weird though… Normally, you only learn about time and such at the Academy."

Jack raised his eyebrow "And – Is that bad?"

The Doctor shook his head "No. She just has to learn how to deal with this."

"So that's it?" Jack questioned in surprise "That there's nothing you can do for her? Just that she will have to get used to it?"

"What do you think I can do?" the Doctor demanded "As I said. This isn't normal. She shouldn't be this sensitive to changes. Hell, I barely noticed it before I saw the Earth."

Jack studied the Time Lord for a moment before reaching his arms out "Let me take her. You concentrate on finding Rose so we can get out of here."

"Yeah," the Doctor breathed, slowly getting up when Rae was safe with Jack.

"You better hurry," the Captain pointed out "These games don't seem to have happy endings."

The Time Lord scoffed "You don't think I know that?"

He startled when Jack threw his Vortex Manipulator at him "Here you go," the other man nodded "Patch that in. It's programmed to find her."

"Thanks."

It was then that Jack's eyes caught Lynda who was watching the scene in a little bit of shock "Hey, there," he grinned, shifting his hold on the Time Tot to get a little more comfortable. Thankfully, Rae had stopped flailing now and was just leaning against his chest.

"Hello," Lynda greeted.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced himself.

The young woman smiled a little "Lynda Moss." She nodded to Rae "Is she alright?"

"I think so," the Captain hummed, raising Rae's chin with his fingers, looking into her eyes. He signed something to her, making her nod "Yup. She's fine."

All of a sudden, the Doctor threw down the VM in frustration "It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." He kicked the console as Jack sighed and got up from the floor "This place should be a basic broadcaster but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."

"Like… What?" Jack blinked, taking off the front plate of the console.

The Time Lord shook his head "I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Rose seems to be stuck in the middle of it." Suddenly, he perked up "Found her. Floor 407."

Lynda let out a gasp "Oh, my God. She's with the Anne Droid. You've got to get her out of there."

Not a minute later, they were all standing in the elevator, going up to Floor 407. The Doctor was continuously pressing the button, getting more jittery the longer it took "Come on, come on."

On the right floor, they quickly located the right room. The room wasn't too hard to find either since they could hear what was going on inside through the speakers " _Shoes,_ " Rose said.

The Anne Droid's voice sounded next " _No, the correct answer is hats. Roderick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?_ "

The Doctor looked around hurriedly "Game Room Six, this one over here?"

" _San Hezeldine,_ " a man answered hurriedly.

" _No,_ " the robot denied " _The correct answer is San Chen._ "

Jack closer to the door "Stay back, let me blast it open."

"You can't," the Doctor shook his head, glancing over to see Lynda holding onto Rae's hand "It's made of Hydra combination."

" _Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?_ " the Anne Droid asked.

The blonde shifted in place " _Reykjavik?_ "

The Doctor cursed under his breath, working on the lock to the studio "Come on, come on, come on."

" _Oh, my God,_ " Rodrick laughed in relief " _I've done it. You've lost._ "

" _But I'm not meant to be here,_ " Rose exclaimed, her voice betraying her panic " _I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere. He's always here. He wouldn't just leave._ "

The Anne Droid turned to Rose " _Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits._ "

Rodrick smirked " _Oh, thank you, thank you so much._ "

" _This game is illegal,_ " Rose shrieked " _I'm telling you to stop._ "

The Time Lord finally managed to get the door open and stormed in "Rose. Stop this game."

"Rose," the Anne Droid addressed the blonde "You leave this life with nothing."

"Stop this game," Jack demanded.

The Doctor hurried towards Rose, trying to get her out of the way "I order you to stop this game."

"You are the weakest link," Rose called out for the Time Lord to be careful, not paying any attention to the Droid. As she ran to the man, she got shot in the back, turning to ash right in front of the group of intruders.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Jack breathed in shock as the Doctor stared down at the remains with a hard look on his face. This was his fault, all his fault. Rose wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with if he hadn't taken her along… Maybe the Doctor should have gone with his gut feeling and should have dropped her off at home when he found Astraea in that museum. When people approached the group of four, Jack sneered at them "Back off."

"I need security," the Floor Manager murmured into a walkie talkie "And I need them here right not."

One of the men went to grab the Doctor, causing Jack to surged forward "Don't you touch him. Leave him alone."

Rae cried out in alarm when she was ripped away from Lynda by one of the guards " **No,** " she shouted, struggling at the hands. They were holding onto her harshly, causing her mind to get back to the bad men from before.

"Rae," Jack gasped, dropping the Defabricator gun at the sight of the frightened Tot "Let her go. Can't you see that she's scared?"

"Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate," the guard droned, ignoring the Captain's words.

Jack gritted his teeth as Rae's quiet cries echoed through the corridor "I don't care. Just… Just let her go, alright?"

"She's a child," Lynda added quietly.

The guard that was holding the child, dropped her from his grip, causing her to crumble to the ground. It was then that the Doctor reacted on instinct, his eyes still a little unfocussed at the thought of having to tell Jackie what happened to her daughter. He knelt down by the Time Tot and waited for a moment. He didn't want to touch Rae without warning but didn't feel like his voice would hold if he spoke now. It only took a moment before the girl threw herself at him, burying her face in his leather jacket. The guard who dropped Rae shoved his gun into the Time Lord's back "Get a move on."

It didn't take long until the four were in a prison cell. By then, Rae was in Jack's arms, staring into space, her cheeks still wet with tears. The Doctor was being slammed against the bars as the guard patted him down quickly, pulling out the sonic screwdriver with a look of confusion "Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir?" When the Time Lord didn't react, he tried again, a little more annoyed now "Can you tell us how you got on board?"

"Just leave him along," Lynda cried out.

Another guard shoved her back a little "I'm asking him. Sir? Can you tell us who you are? You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?"

The head guard unlocked the cage to let his colleague out "Let's do it," the Doctor murmured, causing Jack to jump up after shifting Rae from his lap. He quickly knocked the two guards out, reclaiming his Defabricator while the Doctor retrieved his sonic and Rae. Lynda, on the other hand, claims two of the weapons from the guards.

On the top floor, Jack ordered the personnel to move away from the desk as soon as the elevator doors were open "Nobody try anything clever! Move to the side and stay there," Jack added, pointing his guns at them. Lynda kept behind him, keeping an eye on Rae whose eyes were darting around the room. She would really love to know what happened to the girl to make her this jumpy and scared. It mostly seemed to be directed at the guards – at men. Except for the Doctor and Jack, it appeared.

"Who's in charge of this place?" the Doctor demanded of an albino girl. She was strung up with wires running into her.

"Nineteen, eighteen," she mumbled.

"The Satellite's more than a Game Station," the Doctor tried again.

"Seventy-nine, eighty," the girl continued as if she didn't hear him.

The Doctor glared at her, getting angrier than he was "Who killed Rose Tyler?"

"All staff are reminded that solar flares occur in delta point one," she said.

"She can't reply," one of the personnel cut in. The Doctor swung his gun onto him "Don't shoot!" the man begged.

"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot," the Doctor rolled his eyes, throwing the man his weapon "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."

Jack nodded sharply "Yes, sir."

"You," the Time Lord gestured to Pavale "What were you saying?"

Pavale blinked at the man, still holding onto the gun "But I've got your gun."

The Doctor rolled his eyes "Okay, so shoot me." When nothing happened, he continued "Why can't she answer?"

"She's er…" He paused, glancing down at the gun uncomfortably "Can I put this down?"

"If you want," the Doctor shrugged "Just hurry up."

Pavale let out a sigh "Thanks. Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognise your existence."

"What's her name?" the Time Lord asked " **Rae. Don't touch that.** "

The man in front of him flinched at the change in language and followed the Time Lord's shape gaze to where the little girl was creeping closer to the Controller "Get away from her," he called, causing Rae to freeze.

The Doctor let out a sigh and went over to collect Rae "I'm sorry about her. She tends to be curious when she actually has the courage to."

"No, no," Pavale shook his head "No harm done. Erm… The Controller was installed when she was five-years-old. That's the only life she's ever known."

"Door's sealed," Jack called, jogging back over to them "We should be safe for about ten minutes."

The Doctor nodded "Keep an eye on them."

"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station," Pavale exclaimed before the Time Lord had turned away completely "I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorised transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."

"Show me," the Doctor demanded.

A bleep made everyone look over at Jack who had just tried to open a door to the left "You're not allowed in there," the woman pointed out "Archive Six is out of bounds."

Jack raised his eyebrow at her and held up the two guns around his shoulders "Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" When she didn't reply, he opened the door and walked in.

"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen," the Controller droned out, staring at the air.

The woman who had talked to Jack, glared over at the Doctor "If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified."

"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day," the Time Lord pointed out, not a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"That's not our fault," the woman huffed "We're just doing our jobs."

"And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me," the Doctor rolled his eyes "Now back off!"

The power dropped, causing Pavale to look over when he heard a tiny whimper "That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."

The Controller spoke up, her eyes now focussed on the Time Lord "Doctor."

"Doctor?"

The Time Lord was quietly murmuring to Rae, making her death grip on him loosen a little. This trip was definitely showing him how much recovery she still had to do. Rae had been fine a lot of the time but now… Well, it seemed to be somewhat worse than normal "Whatever it is, you can wait."

The woman pointed to the Controller "I think she wants you."

"Doctor? Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"

The Doctor walked over, stopping in front of her "I'm here."

"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind," the Controller breathed "All my life, blind. All I can see are numbers, but I saw you."

"What do you want?"

The white-haired girl hummed "Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My Masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright."

The Time Lord tilted his head "Who are your Masters?"

"They wired my head," the Controller explained "The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My Masters. My Masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions but they don't watch the programmes. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed "My friend died inside your games."

"Doesn't matter," the Controller shook her head.

"Don't you dare tell me that." The Doctor's tone was so angry that Rae's head snapped up. She had tried not to listen to what was going on around her because she hated it. The Time Tot just wanted to leave, to go back to the Tardis.

"They've been hiding. My Masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundred of years."

The Time Lord frowned "Who are they?"

The Controller didn't answer directly but told the man as much as she could "They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my Masters."

"Who are they?" the Doctor repeated.

"But speak of you, my Masters, they fear the Doctor."

"Tell me, who are they?" the Time Lord snapped, annoyed by the non-answers he got as the power comes back on.

The Controller's eyes unfocussed more than they already were "Twenty-one, twenty-two."

The Time Lord whirled around to face Pavale "When's the next solar flare?"

"Two years time," the man gave back after checking.

"Fat lot of good that is," the Doctor grumbled, glaring at the ground.

"Found the Tardis," Jack panted, running out from Archive Six.

"We're not leaving now," the Doctor proclaimed.

Jack shook his head "No, the Tardis worked it all out. You'll want to see this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?"

"I just want to go home," the young woman breathed.

"It'll only take a second," Jack assured her "Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can." After she did was he asked "Everybody watching? Okay. Three, two, one." A beam came down and Lynda vanished.

The Doctor whipped his head to the Captain in shock "But you killed her."

"Oh, do you think?" Jack challenged.

Another button and another beam made Lynda appear back next to the Doctor "What the hell was that?" she breathed, steadying herself.

"It's a transmat beam," Jack explained "Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space. Doctor, that means Rose is still alive."

"She's out there somewhere?" he asked, hopeful that he won't have to tell Jackie that he lost Rose. That woman was scary on the best of days.

The Controller who was still trapped in the wires called out "Doctor. Coordinates five point six point one…"

The Doctor shook his head "Don't… The solar flare is gone. They'll hear you."

"… Point four three four. No, my masters, no! I defy you," she cried "Stigma seven seven." The white-haired girl screamed, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"They took her," the Time Lord stated grimly, working on the central computer. He sat down on one of the chairs, with Rae once again curled against him. One small glance showed him that her thumb had wandered into her mouth. Normally, he would stop her since she should have been out of that age some time ago but… She needed all the comfort she could get right now, so the Time Lord just continued working.

Pavale handed Jack a file "Look, use that. It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

Jack nodded "Nice, Thanks. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."

"I'm Davitch Pavale," he introduced himself, glancing at the Time Lord nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale," the Captain flirted, grinning at the Doctor's annoyed groan.

"There's a time and a place," the Doctor sighed.

A woman frowned "Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?"

The Doctor nodded "Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."

Jack pointed at a button "Click on this. The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system."

"There's nothing there," the woman from before pointed out.

"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does," the Doctor murmured, deep in thought "Underneath the transmission there's another signal."

Pavale raised a shoulder in confusion "Doing what?"

"Hiding whatever is out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal…" He worked on the computer for a moment before a large flying saucer appears on a holo-viewscreen. It zoomed out to reveal a lot, lot more of them.

"That's impossible. I know those ships. They were destroyed," Jack gasped.

"Obviously, they survived," the Doctor snapped back, staring at the screen with an unreadable expression. One of his arms came up around Rae, pressing her against him. He didn't even want to think about how the Tot would react to this. She had seen so much in the Time War after all.

"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked confusedly.

"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them," the Time Lord explained, not having heard Lynda's question.

"Half a million what?" Pavale frowned.

"Daleks," he answered grimly.

At that moment, a screen popped into view. Rose was surrounded by three Daleks looking frightened "I will talk to the Doc-Tor," the Dalek in the middle demanded. The sound of the Dalek startled Rae badly enough that she fell from the Doctor's lap after the man loosened his hold involuntarily. Jack immediately took action and pulled the girl away from the screen, making sure that she wouldn't be able to see or hear anything going on.

"Oh, will you? That's nice, hello!" the Doctor said, pulling up a mask of cheerfulness as soon as Rae was safely out of view.

"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow "Oh really? Why is that then?"

"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated."

"No," the Doctor denied. No? To what exactly?

The Dalek on the screen blustered, well, as much as a Dalek could do that "Explain yourself."

"I said no," the Time Lord shrugged.

"What is the meaning of this negative?"

"It means no," the Doctor replied matter-of-factly.

"But she will be destroyed," the Dalek threatened.

"No! Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her. I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet and then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"

"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan," the Dalek said.

"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death? Rose?"

"Yes, Doctor?" Rose stuttered.

"I'm coming to get you," he replied, ending the transmission.


End file.
